


Criminals Don't Need A Reason To Be Criminals

by Very_Anxious_Bean



Series: Criminals Don't Need A Reason To Be Criminals [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Human, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Sleep | Remy Sanders are Siblings, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Issues, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has PTSD, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Swears, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Mess, Blood and Injury, Blood and Torture, Broken Bones, Crying, Cuddles, Dark Past, Deceit Sanders Acting Terrible, Deceit is a Criminal, Disney Movies, Electrocution, Everyone Is Gay, Evil Deceit Sanders, Force-Feeding, Forced Eye Contact, Fucked Up, Gen, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Hamilton References, Heathers References, Human Sleep | Remy Sanders, Hypothermia, I'm Going to Hell, I'm a sucker for angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kidnapping, Knives, M/M, Manipulative Deceit Sanders, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Consensual Groping, Non-Consensual Kissing, Non-Consensual Touching, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Sleep | Remy Sanders, Not Beta Read, Not Completely A Happy Ending, Oops, Panic Attacks, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Please Don't Kill Me, Poor Virgil, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Serious Injuries, Shooting Guns, Sleep | Remy Sanders Needs a Hug, Some Fluff, Some Plot, Suicidal Thoughts, Swearing, Therapist Dr. Emile Picani, Tortured Virgil, Violence, Virgil is his Victim, Warning: Deceit Sanders, it's sort of a happy ending, minor homophobia, mostly angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-05-19 10:57:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 40,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19355638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Very_Anxious_Bean/pseuds/Very_Anxious_Bean
Summary: Virgil goes missing one morning and Roman, his husband, gets a message from 'Dee'. The family is told by the police that there's nothing they can do other than hope Virgil will return safely.The family was never known for giving up.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags for warnings and DO NOT read this if it triggers you. I've warned you; this is really dark.  
> (This is a Human!AU, if you don't like it then don't read it)

Virgil heard the front door open and he raced to it, ready to give his husband a disappointed glare. "Prince, you better have a good reason-"

"Oh, I do," Roman said. He closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes. "There was a puppy at work!" Roman grinned and his eyes shimmered.

"Really?" Virgil arched an eyebrow, giving Roman his signature half-smirk-half-smile. "What breed?"

Roman took Virgil's hand and led the both of them to the kitchen, starting to make coffee. "She was a Husky! She was so gorgeous and fluffy, everyone at work got to pet her! The kids were so happy." 

"Do I have competition?" Virgil playfully asked. He tried to reach for his mug that _someone_ put up there on purpose. 

"Why, of course not!" Roman got Virgil's mug and pecked his cheek. "The true competition would be your sibling, Remy." 

Virgil rolled his eyes at Roman. "We both know Picani would murder you."

"Then it's a good thing you're the most handsome man in the world," Roman pecked the top of his husband's head and continued making the coffee. "Speaking of you, I'm making you Decaf."

Virgil frowned. "Why?"

Roman smiled, "Because you're a tiny bean that shouldn't have too much coffee."

"A 'tiny bean'? Are you serious, Princey?" Virgil was giving Roman a blank face, which usually would mean he's trying not to kill you with his eyes but he said 'Princey' so he wasn't actually upset.

"Nah, I'm joking. Coffee's just not good for anxiety," Roman replied. 

Virgil gave the other the most intimidating glare he could (Roman still felt like he was going to be dragged into Tartarus by his husband every time) and served himself coffee that was not Decaf. "Read my face; what does it say?"

"That you're personally going to drag me to the pits of hell."

Virgil huffed out a short laugh. "Damn straight," 

"We're definitely not straight," Roman said and smirked.

Virgil glanced at his wedding ring, lips quirking into a small smile, before rolling his eyes at the pun and going to the family room. Roman followed after soon and asked Virgil if they could cuddle and watch a Disney movie. Virgil had a poker face for a moment before sighing and nodding.

Roman cheered, setting down his coffee after nearly dumping it on himself, and ran over to the television to put on Cinderella. Virgil complained but Roman promised him The Black Cauldron next. 

They were nearly finished with the movie when the doorbell rang and the door swung open with a "What's up, girls?"

Roman huffed, crossing his arms and blushing when Virgil shouted out, "Remy, you can't just barge in here! What if Roman and I were fucking?"

Remy came into view, sipping their coffee. "Then I'd have one hell of a show," They snickered when Roman threw a pillow at them and then shove a pillow in his own face.

Virgil groaned as Remy spread them self on the two men's laps. "Where's your impulse control?"

Remy sighed, "Sadly, Emile is currently at work. He was about to leave but then one of his clients walked in last minute and you _know_ Emile does not have the heart to say no." They glanced at the television. "So, we're watching Cinderella?"

"We're finishing Cinderella," Roman corrected.

"Great, what're we watching next? Wait, no- I bet it's gonna be The Black Cauldron. Am I right?"

Virgil rolled his eyes at Remy who didn't need an answer and instead told Roman to continue the movie so they could watch the next one. 

After finishing both movies, Virgil went to place the mugs in the sink. He let Roman open the door and welcome Emile.

Emile walked into the kitchen to say hello to Virgil. 

"Welcome back to the pits of hell," Virgil said in greeting. 

Emile laughed. "Thanks. Do you need help?"

"Nah, it's only two mugs and some cutlery. I've got it." 

Emile walked to him anyway. "What do you plan on doing tonight?"

Virgil shrugged, not looking at the other. "I plan on doing Roman." Virgil smirked when he heard Roman splutter.

"Virge, honey, we all know you bottom!" Remy called.

"Joke's on you, Rem, we switch!" Virgil called back. There was a small "Oh my God," from Roman.

Emile smile was crooked, he was clearly trying not to laugh. "What are you planning for dinner?"

"Nothing. Maybe we'll order Chinese, I don't know." 

"Right, well- I'll dry those-" Emile took the mug from Virgil- "If you'd like, I can cook here for the four of us. I could invite the others, too." 

Virgil leaned away from the sink, washing a spoon and glaring at it as it sprayed water everywhere. "I'd like that. I'm sure Roman would love it."

Emile grinned, done with drying the mugs and went to look in the fridge. "Virgil, there is _no food_ here."

"Oh?" Virgil looked over Emile's shoulder and found that the fridge was in fact empty. Spare for a carton of milk and orange juice.

Emile looked at Virgil. "How long have you been out of food?"

"Yesterday?"

Emile looked unimpressed before closing the fridge. "Remy, we're getting food and cooking dinner here tonight!" He said.

Remy walked into he kitchen and frowned at Virgil. "You both are _terrible_ at keeping track of your fridge. Well, we'll be back."

Virgil shot a glare at Remy, then sighed when Roman started singing _You'll Be Back_ from Hamilton.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))

"It's been an hour and I'm _hungry_!" Roman whined, laying on Virgil's lap as the other scrolled through Tumblr.

"This is why we need to keep track of our food." 

Roman pouted, "It's late! I was promised cuddles and Disney."

"If you keep whining, you might not get either." Virgil said. He smirked when Roman gave him the most offended look he could.

The door opened and Remy shouted, "Y'all better not be having sex!" 

"Oh yeah, cause I'll be riding Roman into the sunset, Remy." Virgil said. Roman blushed and smacked his arm, causing his husband to snicker. "Yeehaw, my dude."

Remy slapped upside Virgil's head as they passed. " _Yeehaw, my dude_ ," Remy said mockingly. "No coffee for you. I'd laugh if you were actually riding Roman, because he'd just pin you down and fuck you." 

"Oh, ha ha; _very_ funny, Remy." 

"Oh my god, the both of you just _shut up_." Roman's face was as red as a tomato now and he went to the kitchen. 

Emile was muffling his snickers as he placed food in the fridge and started making their dinner. "You know, you're whipped." 

Roman sighed, "Yeah, I am."

"What's it like?"

Roman smirked at Emile, "Our love is god. But seriously, it's like I'm _actually_ a Royal and everything is perfect with him."

"Even the fights?" Emile asked, chopping vegetables. 

Roman walked over and started cutting vegetables too. "The fights are like the two Royal families declared to attack each other, but when we make up it's amazing. Virgil is as stubborn as me, Patton and Logan has had to help us out _many_ times."

"Oh, I bet," Emile said. He started boiling water. 

"Well, you haven't given me details about you and Remy~" 

Emile smiled fondly. "I've had to stop them from getting in fist fights a lot. Remy's really protective," he chuckled, "and I love it, I do, it's just that... I'm worried about them getting hurt again." His smile slipped.

Roman frowned. "Again?"

"It's not my thing to tell," Emile said. "But Remy's been doing really well for the past few years, and I'm proud of that." He smiled. "Being with them is pretty awesome, though I'm the one who has to solve our fights. Remy's just as stubborn as Virgil so it's hard sometimes."

"Oh, fun!" Roman said.

Emile laughed and they continued working in silence, occasionally glancing into the family room to make sure Remy and Virgil didn't kill each other. They also invited Patton and Logan but they declined politely, saying they were going on a date (a dinner and movie).

"Dinner's ready!" Emile called. 

"No one else is coming?" Virgil asked, pulling Remy off the table.

"Nope," Roman popped the "p". 

After the dinner, Remy and Virgil washed the dishes. Well, it was more like Virgil and Remy _had_ to clean the dishes.

"Virgil~" Roman called out. "Are you done yet?"

"No."

Roman dragged himself to the kitchen. "I want to cuddle!"

Virgil continued washing the dishes with Remy. He let Roman drape himself over his back.

Remy stuck their tongue out at Virgil, "You two are disgusting."

"You and Picani are disgusting." 

"No, you know who _is_ disgusting?" Remy asked, "Remus."

Roman's face scrunched up as Virgil said, "We don't mention that person in this household."

Remy nodded and they finished the dishes. "Alright, let's go watch your movie!" Remy dragged the two to the couch, laying so their head was resting in Emile's lap.

They all watched The Black Cauldron, Emile running his fingers through Remy's hair. When it was finished, Emile spent twenty minutes convincing Remy to not spend the night. 

"Alright, fine," Remy said. Remy hugged the couple goodbye, waving and calling them idiots with a smirk before walking to the car. Emile gave them a bright smile and waved before leaving too, closing the door behind him. 

"That was fun, we should go on a double date some time." Roman said, locking the door. 

"Oh, I can imagine going on a double date with them. Remy would sneak coffee in, and Emile would sneak in the candies he likes to share." Virgil chuckled.

"That'd be fun. Maybe we could go to a coffee shop," Roman said. 

"Oh yeah, totally." Virgil said. 

Roman smiled fondly before picking Virgil up and taking him to their shared bedroom. "We are actually going to get some sleep tonight, my prince!"

"Are we?"

"Yes!" Roman dropped Virgil onto the bed and climbed in after him. "I love you," he muttered and wrapped his arms around Virgil's thin waist.

"I love you too, you Royal Pain."

Roman huffed into the back of Virgil's neck. "Yeah but I'm _your_ Royal Pain. Just like how you're my Emo Nightmare."

Virgil huffed. "Right,"

Roman didn't need to look at Virgil's face to tell he was smiling.

 

 

When Roman woke up, his arms were empty. He didn't think much about it, assuming Virgil woke up and went to scroll through his phone on the couch or was making coffee. 

He got up, using the bathroom before he walked to the kitchen. He frowned, not finding Virgil and his daily coffee, and moved to the other room. Virgil wasn't there either. Roman searched the whole apartment, not finding Virgil anywhere. 

"What?" Roman muttered, going to where they charged their phones. Virgil's phone was there. Virgil never went anywhere without his phone, his anxiety needing something familiar and a quick way to contact his sibling or husband. 

Roman picked up his phone, scrolling through his notifications. He gave up on trying to focus on them and clicked _DISMISS ALL_. He went to his contacts and called Remy.

After a few rings, there was a sleepy "What?"

"Is Virgil with you?" Roman asked urgently, tapping his fingers against the counter. 

"Hm?" Remy paused, "Uh, no. Why?"

"He's not home," Roman said.

"He could be getting Coffee Rush or something?" Remy said as though it was obvious.

"Right, because he would go out in public without his phone."

There was shuffling and a thump. "What? What do you mean?" Remy sounded more urgent. 

"His phone is in my hand!" Roman said, waving said object as if Remy could see it. 

"Did you get any text messages from an unknown number?" Roman could hear cars in the background. 

"I don't know, I cleared all my notifications!"

"Check them," Remy said and hung up.

Roman huffed, slightly offended, and scrolled through his text messages. Strangely, there was an unknown number simply reading "You won't find him. -D"


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Profanity (swearing), crying/sobbing, flashes of memories/PTSD, panic attack(s); mentions of murder, kidnap, torture, and rape; implied torture/pain, non-consensual drugging
> 
> Bold words are flashbacks/memories/PTSD and italics are text messages.

When Roman called Remy, informing them that Virgil was missing, Remy was immediately ready to kick ass. Remy got to the car only for it to be locked and not have the car keys. 

"Fuck this," Remy hissed. Remy started running in the direction of their brother's apartment. As soon as Remy reached the door, they started to pound on the surface. 

Roman opened the door. "Rem-"

Remy took the phone in Roman's hand, knowing it was Roman's due to the red case with a crown, and saw the anonymous text. Well, not exactly anonymous because the end had "D" but it wasn't that specific. Remy knew who it was immediately. Remy didn't say anything, they just took Roman's hand and dragged him to the police department nearby. 

"Remy, what are you doing?" 

"We have to report this. We need to report Virgil and the text." Remy entered the building and walked to the desk. "We need to speak to Officer Thomas Sanders."

Roman watched Remy and the officer interact, Remy insistent on talking to a Thomas Sanders. Eventually the officer gave up on arguing with Remy and excused both of them to Sanders' office. 

Remy led Roman to the office. Remy knocked and opened the door, not waiting for a "Come in." 

There was a brunet man sitting at a desk and he looked up. "Remy!"

"Yes, hello, Thomas. I'm here to report something." Remy sat down at the desk.

"Alright-"

"Look, it's a text-" Remy gave Thomas Roman's phone- "and my brother is nowhere. It's similar to my case a few years ago." 

Thomas read the short text. "Alright, I'll file this. Roman, try texting 'D' back."

Roman frowned, sitting at the desk and writing a short text. _What do you mean? Who are you?_

Remy was messaging someone on their phone, most likely Emile. 

Roman's phone binged. _From Unknown: No one important. Of course, I mean it when you won't find your beloved "Prince."_

Everything was background noise as Roman continued messaging the anonymous person. _Where is he?_

_From Unknown: With me._

_I swear to god if you hurt him, you're going to regret it_

_From Unknown: Oh, I'm shaking. How do you plan on making me regret it if you can't find us?_

Roman growled. He blinked when a picture was sent. It was of Virgil and he was unconscious. _WHAT THE FUCK!!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU_

Remy glanced at Roman's phone and froze right as Emile burst into the room. 

"What's happening?" Emile asked, walking quickly to his lover.

"A case similar to all those years ago," Thomas said, "Roman, I need to read the messages."

Roman handed Thomas his phone, whose eyes widened slightly and started to type thing on his computer. He did something on Roman's phone and handed it back to him. "I connected the messages to my computer so I'll be able to see what 'D' sends to you."

Roman took back his phone. "Who is 'D'?!" 

Thomas wrote something down. "'D', or 'Deceit', is a criminal that we have been trying to track down for years. He is also known as 'Deceit' and he tends to kidnap and torture people. We have also received rape and murder cases connected to him."

Emile gently tapped Remy's shoulder, getting their attention and taking the both of them out of the room. 

Remy felt numb. It was a case like theirs years ago. It was happening to their baby brother. Virgil was going to be hurt- **screams, chuckles, pain** \- and Remy couldn't do anything. 

"Remy," Emile said. 

Remy should have spent the night. **It's hard to open their eyes. Why does it feel like they're floating?**

"Remy!" Emile shook them.

Remy looked up at Emile. When did they get outside? 

"Remy, you're falling into a panic attack."

"I-" Remy choked on their words. **Choking. Choking on metallic liquid-** "I should've spent the night."

"There's nothing we can do, Rem." Emile said softly, sitting on the floor so neither person will fall.

**"There is _nothing_ you can do," a voice chuckled. A figure crouched in front of Remy, grinning with wild eyes.**

Remy swallowed thickly, "I know." Their breath hitched.

"Hey, keep breathing. C'mon, let's do that breathing exercise you taught Virge. In for four-"

**Don't stop breathing. Stop breathing and you lose. Virgil. Virgil needs you. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.**

"Good job, keep doing that." Emile didn't stop, he kept talking Remy through the attack until Remy nodded.

"I'm good, I've got it." 

After taking a few more calming moments, Remy and Emile went back to Thomas and Roman.

Roman was slouched, much unlike his regular straight posture. "So we can't do anything?"

Thomas gave him sympathetic eyes. "No, you can't. We're doing our best-"

"But you've been doing this for years!!"

"Yes, we have. We're not giving up." Thomas said.

Roman took a deep breath. "You said Remy had a similar case a few years ago. How'd you escape?" Roman looked into Remy's eyes past the sunglasses.

"Roman-"

"I don't know," Remy interrupted Emile. **Dark rooms and halls, Remy doesn't know where to go. Keep moving forward, don't stop. Don't get caught by him.** "Everything was dark and I couldn't see clearly."

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose but Remy knew he was just trying not to cry or get mad about Deceit and his husband. "Alright, let's go. We need to let Pat and Pocket Protector know."

The three left, Remy muttering their thanks and goodbyes before following behind. 

 

Roman knocked on the door for Patton and Logan, Remy and Emile had to leave so he was on his own this time. Roman didn't smile back when Patton opened the door and greeted him cheerfully, he just told him to meet in the family room.

When Logan and Patton walked in, Logan asked where Virgil was.

"That's why I'm over here." Roman said. He was so tired already, and it was only noon. "Virgil was taken by a criminal that goes by Deceit. The police has been hunting him down for years but-" Roman's voice cracked and the tears he's been holding back spilled slowly. 

Patton rushed over, wrapping his arms around Roman and letting him cry softly into his shirt. Logan came over too, setting a comforting hand on Roman's back and rubbing small, firm circles. 

Roman's soft crying turned into sobbing, "I don't know if I'll get him back!" 

Patton's eyes filled with tears and he looked at Logan. Logan was looking down, as if trying to process that Virgil might never be found, or worse: he might be found _dead_. 

"Roman, hey," Patton lifted Roman's head, "we're going to find him."

"The police-"

"Logan is a detective, he can help us do our own search." Patton said, shooting a warning look at said man when he was about to say something against the idea. 

"He's right, Roman. We won't be sitting around when we can do something." Logan said.

"What can we do?" Roman sniffled, wiping his tears away.

"We can start by hypothesizing where Deceit could have taken him. We can look at traffic cameras and search for suspicious activity."


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Implied non-consensual drugging, implied kidnapping, punching, kicking, scratching/fighting back, biting, death threats, profanity (swearing), pinning someone down, asphyxiation/choking

Virgil had a hard time opening his eyes. At least, a harder time than usual. 

He groaned softly, bringing his hands up to his face and prying open his eyes. It was dark and he was lying on a cold, hard floor. It was safe to assume he was not in his apartment.

"What the actual hell?" He propped himself up on his elbows, squinting and trying to see in the dark room. When Virgil could see shapes, he stood up and used a nearby wall for balance since the world tilted once he got up. 

He walked, feeling along the wall for any openings or the outline of a door. Virgil cursed when he tripped over a wire on the floor. 

"I am _not_ this clumsy," he muttered and set a hand on a nearby box, planning on getting up but _no_ , life had to fuck with him. Virgil was about to get up but then the box collapsed and he cut his palm on something from inside it. 

"God fucking dammit-" Virgil cut himself off when a door opened, light pouring into the room. There were stains everywhere and Virgil could only assume the worst. 

"So, you're awake now?" A man asked, stepping into the room and the door shut. It was dark only for a few seconds, then a light from the ceiling was turned on. "It took you a while, though drugs always have different effects on people." 

Virgil blinked against the light. "You drugged me? Are you fucking serious?" So that's probably why he couldn't remember getting kidnapped by the man. 

"Of course I'm serious," the man walked towards Virgil, "and before you ask, I'm Deceit." He grinned. 

"Oh, how wonderful. I bet you already know me, otherwise you wouldn't have kidnapped me." Virgil scowled at the scarred man. 

Deceit got closer to Virgil who started making more distance between them. "I'm glad to know you aren't one of the pathetic ones."

Virgil glared at the other. He scanned the room quickly, trying to memorize the layout for when he was left in the dark again. 

Deceit suddenly dashed towards Virgil, and Virgil was incredibly thankful for his quick thinking. He jumped back and side-stepped when Deceit was in arm's length before whirling around to face him while speed walking backwards. 

Deceit smirked, walking to Virgil who was still walking around. "Good job, only three others have done that before." 

Virgil didn't say anything, glancing behind him to make sure he didn't run into anything and seeing how far away from the exit he was.

Deceit walked quicker and Virgil sped up too. "Virgil, you're not going to escape." 

Virgil went a little faster, slowly getting closer to the door. He resisted the urge to look at it, knowing it would only make it obvious what he planned to do. "Mhm, it looks like you have some dishes to wash so why don't you go on and do your chores?"

Deceit looked at his yellow gloves and Virgil was in arm's length of the door. 

Virgil picked up a nearby chair and threw it at Deceit, then he yanked open the door and ran out the room. He didn't think there would be no light so he placed a hand on the wall and decided or not to turn whenever there was another hallway. 

He turned a corner and felt a doorknob. He twisted it and let himself in since it wasn't locked. He felt for a lock on the wall and door but he didn't feel anything. He still decided to leave it open a tiny crack. 

Virgil breathed as quietly as possible, listening for footsteps as his anxiety soared. What if he didn't escape and died here? What did Deceit plan on doing if he found Virgil? What- Virgil shook off the thoughts. 

Virgil peeked out the door after not hearing anything and looked both ways. It seemed clear but he decided to stay hidden for a few more minutes. 

He peeked out into the hall and, when he saw and heard nothing, slipped out the small room. Virgil slunk down the hallway, looking all around him and freezing when he heard a sound to determine where it came from. 

He froze when there was a loud clatter to his right. Virgil squinted into the dark and held his hand out. He was met with a wall. 

Then there were gloved hands covering his mouth and eyes, dragging him backwards.

 

Logan and Roman were watching the videos from the street cameras nearest to the apartments first. So far there was nothing suspicious; no kidnapping vans, no struggling shadows, and nothing that could-

"Hold up, rewind that real quick," Roman said abruptly, "I'll tell you when to pause."

Logan frowned, rewinding the tape a few seconds back and playing it. He paused when Roman told him to. 

"Look at that!" Roman pointed into the corner of the monitor.

Logan squinted at the monitor, spotting... _something_. "What do you think that is?"

"It's a ring," Roman stood up. 

Logan zoomed in on the corner and, true to Roman's words, turned out it was a ring on a necklace chain laying on the sidewalk. "It could be someone else's." 

Roman was already pulling on his jacket, "We're going to check it out."

Logan zoomed out, reading the street names, and followed Roman. He led the other to the corner. "Alright, we're here."

Roman looked around, thankful that it was not crowded today. He spotted a gleaming light and went to it. He picked it up and returned to Logan, showing him the ring.

"It could-" 

Roman interrupted Logan, "It's Virgil's."

Logan was not convinced. It looked like an ordinary ring on a necklace chain.

Roman glanced at Logan before looking for something on the inside of the ring. "To love is to admire with the heart." 

Logan made a questioning noise.

Roman smiled sadly, "Virgil and I got parts of a quote on the inside of our rings. The quote 'to love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind' because we both liked it. And to tell whose ring's whose and, if we dropped them somewhere, if it was our rings."

Logan hummed and they started walking back to the apartment. "That was a good idea," 

Roman's smile disappeared. "Yeah, it was. He always wears his ring on the chain when we go to sleep."

They entered the apartment and they started watching the tapes again, but this time they switched to the cameras in the area where they found the ring. There wasn't much evidence, only a yellow-gloved hand and Virgil's hoodie sleeve for a second before they disappear. 

Roman was going to start breaking down; he could only think of the worst for Virgil, remembering Remy's condition after a few month's (to his knowledge) disappearance. 

Remy had been jumpy and always woke up crying and screaming in their sleep. Virgil was the only one able to comfort his sibling, and even then he didn't get any details other than it was traumatizing. Remy had so many scars and recent injuries, including finger-shaped bruises around their neck; Remy even had a few bites and fingernail marks. 

Logan set a hand on Roman's arms, "Hopefully we'll be able to get to Virgil before anything traumatizing happens."

Roman rested his chin in his palm, "I'm praying that he won't be as traumatized as Remy."

 

Deceit shoved Virgil back into the room he was in, ignoring Virgil's thrashing. "I already told you that you can't escape."

Virgil glared at the criminal from the floor, "I'm getting out of here!"

"Only two people have been able to escape," Deceit said and locked the door behind him. 

"Make it three," Virgil snapped. 

Deceit walked over to him, "We'll see."

Virgil growled at him, "You're going to die."

"We all eventually die," Deceit said, crouching in front of Virgil, "and I want to see how long you take."

"Fuck you," Virgil spat. He gasped when Deceit's hands wrapped around his neck and forced him back in a laying position. 

Deceit sat himself on Virgil's hips, leaning forward and choking him. "I think," he hissed, "that we're going to have a lot of fun." He ignored Virgil scratching at his wrists where his sleeves rode up and gloves ended. 

Deceit smirked, leaning forward further (putting more pressure on Virgil's throat), and sunk his teeth into the juncture of where Virgil's shoulder and neck met. He leaned back and Virgil punched him, then kicked him away before scrambling to his feet, swaying and coughing. 

Virgil pressed his hand on the bite, feeling some blood, and watched as Deceit left the room with a smirk


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Being shocked (electrically), dislocated/broken bones, knives/cuts, non-consensual kissing, (videoing) torture, blood, non-consensual drugging, profanity, IVs, nearly poking an eye out, profanity (swearing)
> 
> Please be careful with this chapter, it has torture in this and it's not vague but it's not extremely detailed. Don't read this if it will trigger you!!

Virgil didn't know how long he'd been trapped in the room but he's assuming it's been at least a day. He really needed some water and probably food but he wasn't that hungry.

The door opened again, revealing Deceit again, "We're going to have some fun today, Virge."

"Don't call me that," Virgil muttered, "and what do you mean 'fun'?"

Deceit dragged Virgil out the room by his arm, having a death grip. He led Virgil down a few dark hallways and then entered a room. Virgil was pushed away from the door and Deceit locked it behind them.

"Here," Deceit said, holding out a glass of water to Virgil. "I'm sure you need some water."

Virgil looked at the drink skeptically, "I have a feeling you drugged that."

"Of course I didn't, I want you fully conscious for this." 

Virgil still didn't take the water, "That's going to be drugged."

Deceit set the glass down on a nearby crate that was upside down. "Fine, I suppose you'll have to be hydrated through an IV."

Virgil stepped back, trying to see clearly in the dark. "Are you serious about having _medical equipment_ here?"

Deceit smirked, "Do you think I'd lie?"

"Your nickname is literally Deceit." Virgil deadpanned.

"And how do you know that's not my real name?" Deceit asked, making sure the door was locked (the lock was very complicated) and slipped into the darkness. 

Virgil squinted, looking around and faintly seeing Deceit's moving form, "Then I'd pity you, that's a terrible name."

"It is no worse than yours, going by Virgil." Deceit responded, turning on a light by him and making his eyes gleam. 

"That's my literal _name_." Virgil scowled at the other, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. He was surprised when he saw a metal table and an IV filled with a clear liquid in the bag. It was probably nutrients but Virgil couldn't shake the feeling there was going to be a drug in there.

"Oh, I'm sure." Deceit looked at Virgil, something like amusement dancing in his eyes. "It took you a while to tell your friends, didn't it?"

Virgil scowled, looking around and spotting a window. It would have been a great escape plan if he wasn't so damn short. "Fuck you."

Deceit's smirk grew. "So I have your consent?"

Virgil's nose scrunched up. "No! That's disgusting!"

"You said it yourself," Deceit shrugged.

Virgil observed the lock on the door, frowning when he had no clue how it functioned. Logan taught him some complex locks and how to get out of a room quickly but he never taught Virgil this kind of lock. "I did not."

Deceit hummed, "Come over here."

"No." Virgil scanned the room again, trying to figure out how he could get out of the room. He did not like the look of the IV and table. 

Deceit took out his cellphone (Virgil was not expecting that), sending a message judging by the _whoosh_ sound it made, and pocketed it again. "You're making this harder than it needs to be."

"You kidnapped me!" Virgil snapped, "Of course I'm not going to be easy, you bastard!"

Deceit and Virgil danced around each other, Virgil trying to escape and Deceit just amusing himself, before Deceit tackled him. 

"Get off me!" Virgil shouted, kicking at Deceit as his arms were pinned by his side. Virgil was pretty close to escaping Deceit's grip but he was strapped down to the table before he could get on his feet. "You fucking _bastard_ , let me go! Screw you and your drugs! I will fucking beat your ass!"

Deceit chuckled darkly, setting up the IV and letting the liquid flow into Virgil. He watched Virgil struggle for a minute before he pulled out his phone. 

"Virgil, you were right," Deceit said, grinning at the bound man. "But I'll let you figure out which part."

"Is it the part of where you're a bastard and no one loves you? 'Cause I think that's pretty obvious." Virgil snarled. He paused, glaring at Deceit, "You're drugging me, aren't you?"

Deceit only grinned.

 

_From D for Dumbass: Virgil seems to be having a fun time, making everything more difficult that necessary._

Roman scowled at his phone. He was told by Logan and Thomas to not respond or start a conversation with the criminal since it only tempted him more but he didn't listen to that. Mostly. He set his phone down, going back to listening to Logan.

"We don't have many leads but we can try to find witnesses and get some more information from them, there were some people around that area. And- Roman, are you listening?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I am." Roman was glaring at his phone that was sitting on the coffee table. 

"What did I say?"

"You asked if I was listening," Roman said. 

Logan sighed, "I was saying we should try to find some witnesses as there were people nearby where we found Virgil's ring."

Roman hummed, "Okay, but what if we tracked down my brother?"

Logan paused. "Why... why would we need to track down Remus?"

"He's an information broker, and he might be willing to work with us." Roman muttered, "I'm not exactly proud of it but if we track him down then it might work."

"Does Remus know Deceit?" Logan asked.

Roman got up and snorted. "Probably. Knowing him, he'd even had sex with him."

Logan's nose twitched, "That was a fact I did _not_ need to know."

"I had to hear all the details when I was younger," Roman said and walked to the kitchen where Patton was baking oatmeal cookies.

"Hey there, kiddo!" Patton said, smiling at him. 

"Hola, padre." Roman said in greeting and picked up a cookie. "Just baking cookies?" He asked as he ate the cookie.

"Yep!" Patton said cheerfully, "Would you like to help?"

"Sorry padre, but Logan and I are going to start tracking someone down soon." Roman said and took a bit of cookie dough from the mixing bowl Patton was holding.

"Alright, kiddo. Be careful, okay?"

"Will do!" Roman called over his shoulder as he left the kitchen, taking some more cookies for him and Logan.

Patton smiled, going back to baking. He frowned when he got a call on his phone but he picked up despite the private number. "Hello?"

"Patton, it's wonderful to hear your voice again." 

Patton almost dropped the bowl when he heard Deceit's voice. "How did you get my number?"

A laugh, "How kind of you to ask. I have my own ways, you know this."

Patton balanced his phone between his cheek and shoulder, returning to baking. "Right well, what do you want?"

"How rude, you don't even ask how I'm doing!" He chuckled again, "It's been a few years since we've seen each other. You were so kind back then-"

"What do you want?" Patton asked more firmly.

"You haven't even asked how your 'son' has been doing."

Patton didn't say anything.

"Of course, maybe you simply don't care about him. And before you ask what I want again, I just wanted to update you on Virgil but it seems you don't care."

"Tell me," Patton said. He started scooping out the dough onto a tray slowly.

"You're missing something, Pat."

"You have no right to call me that, and you better tell me how Virgil is before I come over and physically attack you."

Deceit hummed, "You've tried doing that. It didn't go in your favour."

"Tell me how Virgil is." Patton demanded.

"I need the magic word-"

" _Please_ ," Patton said, "tell me how Virgil is."

"Well, he hasn't thrown up yet," Deceit responded. There was a door creak and some footsteps. "You wanna hear him? Of course, he can't talk to you; I gagged him but you can most certainly _hear_ him." 

"Thrown up?"

"Yes, I believe that gamma-hydroxybutyric acid does that at low doses." Deceit mutters, "I did not put a lot of it in Virgil's IV, in case that's what you're worried about."

Patton listened to the other side of the call, eyes tearing up when there was an electric buzz and then a yelp. He recognized the yelp as Virgil, and he could tell that the electric buzz was electricity building up and shocking someone. Deceit was electrocuting Virgil. 

"How long do you think Virgil can stand being electrocuted?" Patton could sense Deceit's smirk.

"I-" Patton cut himself off when there was a _beep_ , telling him Deceit hung up. He took a calming breath, trying not to start crying, and continued baking the cookies. He knew that the police wouldn't be able to track down from where the phone call came from, this wasn't the first time this happened. 

Patton placed his phone on the counter and sighed. He set the bowl down and buried his face in his hands, a few tears spilling. What kind of karma had he earned for his family to be targeted? Was what happened years ago his fault?

"No, that was not my fault," Patton muttered to himself. Deceit is the only one to blame for what happened, and for what is currently happening. 

Patton picked his phone back up and messaged the private number.

_You are a terrible person and karma is going to bite you in the ass._

A few minutes later earned a response. _From Private Number: And what are you going to do about it? Right now, I can do anything to your precious son. And speaking about him, he's a tough one but I already knew that of course. It took a while to get Virgil to scream._

Patton didn't respond. Instead, he returned to baking to keep his mind off the thought of Virgil screaming and crying due to being shocked for who knows how long.

 

Remy woke up at one in the afternoon because Emile forced them to take a sleeping vitamin at three a.m. When Remy checked their phone, still half-asleep, they did not expect to have a notification from an unknown number. It said there was a video attachment and a message. 

Remy frowned, half anxious because they had a pretty good idea who it was from, and plugged in earplugs into their phone. Remy clicked play and immediately regretted it. 

It didn't show anything in the beginning, just a black screen, but Remy could hear muffled screams and buzzing. Remy knew the buzzing was electricity, because they had experienced the same thing once. Then the camera was being moved and Virgil came into view. 

Virgil was glaring at Deceit (he was holding the camera) and he was gagged. An IV was in his arm and Remy could only assume it had a drug in it since Virgil was paler than usual and his eyes were glazed over. 

The camera focused on a box with wiring that produced electricity and was hooked up to Virgil. Deceit's gloved hand brought the machine up to 0.01 amps and pressed a button. Virgil was back in view and he was shocked; it was obvious Virgil was in pain and he was gasping. 

The camera shifted again and Deceit was holding a knife, his face not in view but Remy could tell he was grinning. The camera went back to Virgil and Deceit pressed the knife to Virgil's side after lifting his shirt. He pressed the knife into Virgil's side and dragged it down, Virgil was yelling and crying while blood poured out of the cut. Deceit yanked it out and set the knife down. 

Deceit unstrapped Virgil's left arm, gripping his wrist, and pulled it away from Virgil. He kept pulling on Virgil's arm until it dislocated and then bent it in the wrong way until a sickening crack was heard and Virgil was crying harder. 

The camera got closer to Virgil and his eye was forced open. Deceit held the knife tip right above the eye, getting closer and stopping when it was a hair away from the eye. Virgil didn't move, gritting his teeth and relaxing a tiny bit when the knife was away from his face. He screamed when Deceit hooked two of his fingers into the cut on his side and pulled some of the skin away from the wound, poking his fingers around in the wound.

Deceit removed his fingers out of Virgil, dripping with blood. Only the lower half of his face was visible now and he was grinning. He leaned down and kissed Virgil, shoving his tongue into the other's mouth. Virgil tried jerking away from him, eyes panicked and face showing disgust, and then the video ended. 

Remy took a shaky breath, repulsed, and looked at the message.

_From Unknown: That was fun, just like old times :)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I got anything wrong, please correct me because I googled some of the things in this and I didn't completely understand what they said!


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Force-feeding, forced drinking (alcohol), blood/gore, minor & major injuries, non-consensual groping, non-consensual kissing, mentions of neglectful parents, profanity (swearing), retching

Roman sighed, very tempted to throw something out the window. Preferably himself, but then when (if) Virgil got home, he wouldn't have a husband to be there and comfort him. So Roman decided to do the _smart_ thing and not do a back-flip out the window.

He and Logan have been searching for Remus for two days now and they're still not getting anywhere. It was very frustrating and Roman wanted to have a mental breakdown. Or beat the crap out of something (not some _one_ ). 

Logan glanced at Roman before returning to typing on his computer. "How close are you to Remus?"

"Ah, well, we used to be pretty close," Roman said, "especially since he practically had to raise me..."

"Raise you? Did you not have parents?"

Roman shook his head, "Oh, we had parents. They just ignored us all the time, they didn't use their money or make food for us or anything so Remus took up that job. And he got an actual job when he was old enough." 

"So what happened?"

Usually, Roman would not be spilling all of this out to anyone besides Virgil but the sleep deprivation was getting to him by now. "We had a fight when I was eighteen and we never really made up for it. We kept in touch, even now Remus gives me a mysterious phone call every now and then but they're always weird... I guess we just went our separate ways, but the things that Remus told me about when I was younger-" Roman shuddered, a disturbed look on his face- "they always made me focus on _not_ being like him." 

Logan hummed, taking in the new information. "So you had neglectful parents, and Remus raised you."

Roman shrugged and nodded. "Is there anything from Remy?"

"No, only a... disturbing video that they have turned in to Thomas. There are more police officers that are on the case now, especially since they have an idea of what is going on." 

"How disturbing was the video? What did it have?"

Logan frowned, "It was of Virgil. More specifically, torture. It was incredibly unsettling-" 

"Did you see the video?"

"No," Logan said, "I have not seen the video. I only know of it being somewhat graphic, containing torture, gore, and sexual harassment."

Roman fought the urge to throw up and try to fight Deceit. He couldn't stop thinking about how miserable Virgil is right now, with his anxiety. "What time is it?"

Logan looked at his wrist-watch. "It is three in the morning. We should stop for the night."

Roman frowned, looking into his empty coffee cup. "Yeah, I suppose."

Logan took their cups and placed them in the sink. He would clean them later. Logan made sure Roman actually went to bed (he has tried sneaking out of his room to try to find Remus the past two days) and went to bed himself. 

The next morning, Roman was somewhat surprised to find Patton typing at lightning speed on Logan's computer. Patton's face was serious until he glanced up and saw Roman, giving him an enthusiastic "Good morning!"

"Morning," Roman said. He got seven hours of sleep which was a record in three days. Going from eight hours to two hours (then one), and then back to seven hours of sleep was pretty good. Hopefully. He was still tired. "What're you doing?"

"I am helping you guys track down Remus," Patton said. He never stopped typing and Roman wonders if he picked up that habit from Logan. 

"Hm, okay?" 

Patton picked up on the unsaid question of _why_. "I can't stand just baking and cooking. It felt like I wasn't helping, so now I'm changing that. I'm making sure that Logan gets some sleep, so I'm doing a bit of his work. You should go back to sleep too, Roman. You're sleep deprived." 

Roman blinked, "I was just... going to get some cereal."

Patton nodded, "Okay, kiddo! But you've gotta get some more sleep."

Roman agreed and went to the kitchen. He got the Cheerios box and ate straight out of it. He put it away after ten minutes of slowly eating it, got a glass of water, and then went back to bed. 

Patton continued typing on the computer for a few more hours before he decided to take a break. He got food and water, going through his phone with a frown. He and Deceit haven't talked to each other other than the call and Patton's last message of _You are a terrible person and karma is going to bite you in the ass._

A bedroom door opened and Logan walked out of the room, giving Patton a quick smile and going to make coffee. 

"Lo, it's one in the afternoon. You'll be up half the night." Patton said. 

"Well, Roman and I plan on tracking down Remus for the majority of the day, which includes nighttime." Logan said, still making the coffee. 

Patton sighed, resting his head on his hands. "Logan, you both still have to take care of yourselves."

"We know," Logan said. 

"So why aren't you doing it?" Patton got up and wrapped his arms around Logan. "You haven't eaten much, and you're living on caffeine."

Logan put one of his hands over Patton's. "Alright, I'll work on it."

Patton smiled up at him, his chin resting against Logan's shoulder blade. "Thanks."

Logan finished making coffee, letting Patton cling to him, and started to make pancakes with his husband. Patton was pouring some of the pancake batter into the pan when he got an idea, glad that they were making homemade pancakes. He smirked, scooping some of the batter up with his finger and flung it at Logan.

Logan blinked when the batter hit his cheek, narrowly missing his glasses.

"It was for the _batter_ ," Patton said, laughing at his own joke. "Batter" instead of "better", get it? 

Logan smiled, getting the batter off his cheek, before getting some flour and tossing it at Patton. Patton laughed harder.

They continued the fight with the flour, both of them laughing, and Roman was greeted to the sight of Logan and Patton covered in flour. And pancakes on a plate on the table with syrup. 

"I'm sure the both of you had a great time, and I'm sure I would've won if I was awake, but how did you get flour on the ceiling?" Roman asked, amused.

Logan and Patton simultaneously looked up, seeing the flour on the ceiling. 

"I... do not know," Logan said. 

Patton chuckled and smiled brightly, "It's magic!" 

Roman snorted and got a plate for his pancakes. "Y'all have fun?"

"Yep!" Patton went to the fridge, "Milk or orange juice?"

"Coffee," Roman said. 

Patton pulled out the orange juice, "If you have coffee this late, you'll be up most of the night."

"Logan has coffee!" Roman said.

Patton sighed, turning around, and Logan set down the cup immediately. Patton smiled at him and faced Roman again. Roman huffed when Logan quietly drank the coffee behind Patton's back. 

"We plan on working most of the night anyway." Roman muttered, taking the orange juice and pouring some into a glass. 

"I know but self care comes first!" Patton said.

"You should tell Remy that, I'm pretty sure they haven't eaten a proper meal for a day or two." 

Logan set down his mug in the sink, "Emile has that taken care of. He has informed me that Remy does well as long as they are together."

Patton hummed, "That's good. Maybe they can come over some day for a meal."

Roman nodded, eating his pancakes and listening to Logan and Patton talk.

 

Virgil was back in the original room and he was starting to guess that was just going to be his room from now on. The chance that Deceit would switch him to another room was infinitesimal. 

When he woke up, he couldn't remember what happened clearly but he remembered pain. Virgil also woke up with stitches in his side and a gross taste in his mouth. 

Virgil was sitting up, leaning against a sturdy box and has been trying to get enough strength to stand up. The deep cut on his side was incredibly painful and Virgil didn't have access to pain killers. Life was going _great_. 

There were footsteps from outside the door and Virgil groaned. 

"Are you fucking serious?" Virgil scowled at Deceit. 

"I am indeed," Deceit said after he closed and locked the door. 

"You are a bitch."

"I don't think I am a female dog, thank you." 

"Right," Virgil said, "you're a snake."

Deceit grinned, "I suppose." He was holding something in his hands and Virgil glared at it as Deceit got closer. 

"Whatever the hell that is, I don't want it." 

Deceit set it on the floor and sat in front of Virgil, "I'm sure you need food by now. You've had plenty of water but you need to eat, and it's been a few days."

Virgil tried to scoot back, "Fuck off."

Deceit hummed, clearly not insulted, and dragged Virgil closer by his leg. Virgil yelped, glaring at Deceit and pursing his lips when Deceit lifted a small piece of food. 

"Oh, do I need to feed you? What a shame, I thought you could do that yourself." Deceit said. Virgil still didn't open his mouth, even when Deceit's eyes darkened.

Deceit sighed, unimpressed by Virgil. He held Virgil's nose so he couldn't breathe. One minute passed before Deceit noticed Virgil was breathing between his teeth, lips barely opened.

"Alright, that was a good trick," Deceit muttered. He grabbed Virgil between the upper and lower jaw and squeezed when he located the point at the rear of the cheek behind the last teeth. 

Virgil growled and tried to get away as his jaw was forced open. Deceit forced the small amount of food into Virgil's mouth and clamped his mouth shut before Virgil could spit it out. 

"If you don't eat, you'll get a punishment," Deceit said. Virgil still didn't swallow the food. "Virgil," he growled as a warning.

Virgil huffed through his nose, glaring at Deceit and swallowed the food. They continued doing that and it took an hour for Virgil to eat half of the food on they plate. 

Deceit reached behind him, a threatening grip on Virgil's leg, and faced forward with a water bottle in his hand. "Now, are you going to drink this willingly or am I going to have to force you?" 

Virgil snatched the water bottle and drank it. 

Deceit grinned, getting another water bottle. "Drink this."

Virgil took it and took a sip. He gagged, clutching his throat and nearly dropping the "water" bottle and spilling it. "What the fuck?!" 

"Drink it, Virgil."

"No! I'm not drinking whatever that was-"

"You haven't had vodka before?" Deceit was still grinning. 

Virgil gave a small whine, still clutching his throat. He really wanted to throw up right now; it was _disgusting_. "I am _not_ drinking that!"

"Yes, you are." Deceit picked up the plastic bottle and Virgil leaned away, pursing his mouth again. "Virgil, I will force your mouth open again."

Virgil tried to get away but Deceit simply climbed onto his lap (thankfully being aware of Virgil's wound) and forced Virgil's jaw open again. Deceit shoved the opening of the bottle into Virgil's mouth and tilted it up, letting some of the alcohol flow down his throat. 

Virgil gagged again. He tried to get away, shoving at Deceit's hand. Deceit grabbed onto Virgil's hair and pulled, forcing his head back. 

Deceit took the bottle out of Virgil's mouth when it was three-quarters done and let go of his hair. 

Virgil faced to his right and retched, forcing down the vomit climbing up his throat. His throat was on fire and Virgil had to take many deep breaths so he wouldn't throw up and to catch his breath. He screeched when Deceit poured the rest of the alcohol on his stitched cut.

Deceit was still on Virgil's lap, so he scooted back a bit so he was closer to his knees instead. Virgil glared at him, his eyes widening and letting out another screech when Deceit grabbed his crotch and squeezed. 

"That was pleasant, no?" Deceit asked casually, his hand still on Virgil's crotch.

"LET GO!!" Virgil shouted, shoving at Deceit.

Deceit let go of the other's crotch after giving it a little massage, amusement dancing in his eyes again. "If you don't stop shouting, I'll have to make you," he said since Virgil hadn't stopped yelling at the criminal.

Virgil opened his mouth and Deceit dived in, shoving his tongue into Virgil's mouth.

Virgil froze, disgusted, and felt around the floor. His fingers met with a cold, sharp metal. Virgil picked up the razor, letting Deceit lick into his mouth for a second before he bit down on the intruding muscle.

Deceit hissed and pulled back, letting Virgil cut his face with the razor. Deceit gasped, the razor cutting from his cheek bone to the corner of his lip. Virgil shoved Deceit off, wincing when his side burned even more. 

Virgil scowled at Deceit, watching the blood pour down the left side of Deceit's face. Deceit huffed, narrowing his eyes at Virgil before getting up and leaving the room. "You'll regret that."

 

"Roman, Logan, you guys have been typing for hours on end. It's two in the morning." Patton said, a bit concerned.

Logan looked up from the computer. "Patton, I thought you went to bed?"

"I did. I'm getting water and telling you two to take a break."

Roman frowned, not pausing in his typing. "It'll be fine, padre."

Patton sighed, rubbing his eyes from under his glasses and walked over to the two men. He gently closed the laptop, ignoring the protests. "You both said you'd be working on self care, especially since Virge isn't here." He gave Roman a pointed look.

Roman's shoulders slumped, "I'm just going to be staring at the ceiling until dawn."

Patton knew Roman was telling the truth. Roman always struggled to sleep, even when Patton was there to help him out. "We should all cuddle! A cuddle pile, so that we all relax a little bit. We can even watch Disney movies." He added.

Roman perked up at Disney, not noticing Logan glance at him and sigh.

"Alright," Logan said, "we can do a 'cuddle pile' as it has been proven that positive physical contact releases oxytocin and is healthy for anyone." 

Patton beamed at the two and dragged them to his room where a queen sized bed is. He flung the three of them onto the bed, holding them tight. Logan had one arm over the other two and his other arm under his head. Roman curled into Patton's side.

Patton fell asleep quickly, Logan following afterward. Roman stared at a wall, making out a photo hanging.

The photo was of him, Patton, Logan, and Virgil. It was from their most recent trip together (they had family trips every month) at the beach. It was one of Roman's favourite trips, especially since he got away with throwing Virgil into the water.

Roman smiled, yawned, and closed his eyes. He thought about the beach family trip the whole time he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is a bit late, dears. Updates are going to be slower since I'm facing major family issues right now. I'm sorry :))


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: One minor fight, minor injuries, homophobic slurs, implied/referenced sex

Roman was crying. No, he wasn't crying because of anger or frustration, this time it was out of relief. He and Logan finally found where Remus was. It took a total of twelve days. 

"Oh, kiddo," Patton said. Patton hugged him, letting the small amount of tears fall. 

"It took forever!" Roman said when he pulled away. He got up from the spot on the couch he has practically lived on and was going to join Logan in the car.

"Well, patience yields focus!" Patton chuckled and got up, following Roman and joining him and Logan in the car.

"Okay so, where is Remus, exactly?" Patton asked after a few minutes, leaning forward so his head was between the front two seats.

"Remus lives two hours away," Logan said.

Patton nodded and leaned back, looking out the window.

After two hours, true to Logan's word, they stopped in front of a house. 

Roman's face scrunched up, "Of course he got the most weird house he could find." 

The three got out of the car, locking it, and went to the front door of the house. They knocked. 

The door swung open a minute later and a strange looking man wielding a mace stood in the doorway. "Roman! Brother!" 

Roman sighed through his nose, stepping back when Remus swung the weapon towards him, "I am not here to fight."

Remus sighed, throwing his mace off to the side. A cat yowled. 

"Did you just... hurt a cat?" Patton asked, concern growing in his eyes.

"Of course not," Remus said, then his eyes brightened. "Oh! Imagine a cat being-"

Roman covered Remus' mouth. "Ignore him."

"Oh, so you don't want my help?" Remus asked, loud enough to be understood. 

"Wait, we want your help!" Roman said quickly, dropping his hand.

Remus grinned and stepped aside. The three men walked into the house and Remus closed the door. "So, let me guess," Remus grinned, "Virgil was kidnapped by the most wanted criminal, Deceit?"

"How-"

"Brother, I am an information broker. I know everything, from the reason Deceit kidnapped Virgil to what he is and plans on doing to said victim."

"So you'll help us?" Roman asked.

Remus' grin grew, "For a price, maybe. Probably not."

Roman scowled, "What do you mean 'probably not'?" 

"I doubt you could give me the price I wish for, and it depends on the information you want."

"I want to know what's happening to Virgil and where he is, Remus." 

"Hm," Remus hummed, looking around the room with a smirk. "And why should I help you?"

"Remus, I just want to get my husband back." 

"You want your husband's back? That's a funny image, taking a knife and cutting off Virgil's skin."

Roman looked disgusted.

Remus gave him a serious look, "That was a free piece of information." 

Roman was now even more disgusted. 

"So, do you still want to discuss your pay?" Remus asked, a smirk back on his face.

Roman nodded and Remus led the small group to his family room. 

"I'll be right back," Remus said before leaving the room. He came back with a stick of deodorant. "So," Remus took a bite of the deodorant, "you want information on what Deceit will do to Virgil and what their location is?"

"Yes," Roman said. 

Logan looked slightly disturbed as Remus continued eating deodorant and Patton was looking around for that cat they heard earlier while also listening to the others.

"You don't even want to know why he is claiming his 'revenge'?" Remus asked, "Though I suppose you already know about Remy and Deceit. Do you know about Patton?"

Patton froze.

"Do not bring Patton into this," Logan said.

"Hm, I could imagine Patton being the one kidnapped instead of Virgil. Just the thought of Patton being tortured is disturbing," Remus said. He never stopped grinning and Roman is starting to think that it's been glued on for years.

Patton glanced at the floor, "So are you going to help or not?"

"Do you have $13400 on you?" Remus asked back.

Roman paused, "Um... yes?"

"You don't sound so sure~" Remus singsonged.

"I _am_ sure! I have that much money, just not in cash yet..." 

Remus hummed, throwing his finished deodorant stick across the room and landing it in a trash bin, "When do you want the information?"

"As soon as possible."

"So, three days for finding the torture methods, the locations, and Virgil's status." Remus stood up and held out his hand. "Deal?"

Roman got up and took his hand, "Deal."

 

"Hey, Emile," Remy called, "Patton is asking if we want to stop by. Something about a late lunch?"

Emile walked into the room, toweling his hair dry. "We can go if you'd like." 

Remy hummed, getting up and walking over to Emile. "I think it'd be a good idea."

Emile smiled at the other, giving him a thumbs up. 

Remy chuckled and took the towel, "Your hair is a mess and I love it. Go get ready." Remy added.

Emile nodded, jumping in surprise when Remy slapped his ass. "Remy!"

Remy only laughed and walked away. 

A few minutes later and they were on their way to Patton and Logan's house.

"knock knock, losers!" Remy shouted, opening the door without actually knocking. Emile rolled his eyes fondly.

"Welcome!" Roman shouted from the kitchen. 

Remy and Emile went to the kitchen and were amused when they found Patton making grilled cheeses and Roman was sitting on the counter, folding little swans out of cloth napkins. They were mostly amused by Roman.

"So," Remy walked over to Patton, "where's your hubby?"

Patton chuckled, "He's checking Roman's bank account."

"What for?" 

"Something," Patton said.

Remy hummed and sat on the counter, nodding when Patton warned Remy to not burn themselves on the oven. 

Emile sat next to Remy, leaning against them. He laughed when Remy playfully complained about Emile's wet hair.

"You're the one who took my towel, and hid the hair dryer!" Emile laughed.

Remy pecked Emile's lips. "Yep!"

Logan walked into the room with a book in his hands. "You two will most likely burn yourselves if you continue sitting on the counter _right next_ to the oven."

"Nah," Remy waved him off.

"You'll prove me correct sometime soon," Logan said. He sat at the table (like a normal human being) and continued reading his book. He was rereading _Sherlock Holmes_. 

"Did he just... give us his own version of 'I'm going to say I told you so'?" Remy asked.

"Pretty much," Patton said.

Remy huffed, "Alright, old man. Whatever you say."

"I am only two years older than you," Logan replied. 

Remy hummed and turned on music from their phone. They all were hanging out in silence, other than Roman and Patton loudly singing along to most of the songs, and Patton finished making all of their sandwiches. He set the food on the table along with fruits and vegetables. 

"Hey, we should all go to the mall or something," Emile suggested. 

"Hm, that sounds nice, catch a break from all of the drama." Patton said, mostly to himself. He quickly apologised when he saw Roman and Remy's faces. 

"It's fine, we do need a distraction. All of us," Roman added. "Going to the mall 'or something' sounds great, Picani." 

Emile smiled, "So it's kind of like a double date? Plus Roman." 

Roman's first thought was that it could've been a triple date but he decided to listen to himself for once. They all needed a distraction; him and Remy probably needed it the most. "Aw, you should've said 'and Roman' so it could've been like Hamilton. In _The Schuyler Sisters_ , 'and Peggy'?"

Patton and Emile laughed, then they all decided to go to the mall when they finished their lunch.

They drove to the nearby mall and held hands with their lover (Roman was just dancing ahead of them) while they walked around.

"Roman, you can't spend too much money," Logan reminded Roman as soon as they walked into the Disney store. 

"Yes, mom!" Roman said before rushing off. 

Remy and Emile followed behind Logan and Patton. Everything was peaceful until Remy heard a passing man growl, "Ugh, fags."

Remy whirled around, " _What_ did you just say?"

"I called your kind what they deserve to be called; _faggots_!" The man sneered. 

"Remy-"

Remy glanced around, noticing the many frowning kids. "Dude, just go away. Don't call people that." 

The man walked to Remy and shoved him. "Why shouldn't I call you a fag? Your kind is disgusting and you're all going to _hell_."

"Oh no! Whatever shall I do if anyone who is attracted to the same gender will be in the same place as me?" Remy dramatically asked, "We're not the ones going to hell, you are. Don't call people that name, it's extremely offensive, and stop being a homophobe."

The man growled, pulling back his hand and punching Remy. He hit Remy's shoulder. 

Remy sighed, unimpressed, and took the man by the arm before dragging him out of the store. The perks of being tall. "Don't even try-" Remy was cut off by the man jumping onto their back and scratching at Remy's face. 

Remy's sunglasses were flung away and they could see them break. Emile, Patton, Logan, and Roman rushed out of the store and pulled the man off Remy's back.

Emile and Patton dragged Remy to a bathroom while Roman shouted at the man and Logan got security to report the attack.

Emile sat Remy on the counter between the sinks as Patton collected paper towels. Emile took them and dampened them, then dabbed at the scratches on Remy's face. 

"That dude got you pretty good, you're bleeding," Emile muttered.

Remy chuckled, "Yeah, I could feel the blood dripping down my face."

Emile hummed, apologising softly whenever Remy winced. 

Patton sat next to Remy on the counter, "I never noticed you had really green eyes."

Remy looked at Patton, "Well, I usually wear my sunglasses so I guess it kind of made it hard to see what colour my eyes are." 

"Why _do_ you wear sunglasses?" Patton asked, "You don't have to-"

"I have chronic headaches and light doesn't help so I got sunglasses." Remy shrugged and smiled down at Emile when he threw away the somewhat bloody paper towels. 

"Well, we should go find Logan and Roman. I'm sure they'll be wanting to check on you." Patton jumped down from the counter and led the way to the other two men.

They found Logan holding onto the back of Roman's shirt to keep him from following security. 

"Lo!" Patton called, waving his hand in the air and jogging to reach Logan quickly.

"Hello, Patton. How is Remy?" Logan asked, returning the hug Patton pulled him into but still holding onto Roman's shirt. 

"I'm fine, old man." Remy said, holding hands with Emile.

Roman shook off Logan, "Remy!"

"I'm glad everyone is worried but I'm fine," Remy said.

"Good! Now, since you were the one to get attacked, would you like to continue the date or go home?" Roman stretched his back.

Remy smirked, "We're going to continue the date, obviously."

The group chuckled and they walked ahead of Remy, Emile only two steps ahead when Remy's phone binged.

Remy checked the notification, pausing when it was a picture of Virgil. Remy couldn't tell if he was drugged again or if he fell asleep. 

Another bing and a message popped up. _From Unknown: He fell asleep, I thought you'd like to know that he's catching a short break._

"Remy?" Emile asked, pulling Remy away from their phone.

"Slow down, cowboy, I'm coming," Remy said. When they were next to each other, Remy leaned in so he could whisper in Emile's ear. "And maybe you will later, too." 

Emile blushed, causing Remy to laugh and drag him to catch up with the others.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood, profanity (swearing), removing stitches, relocating a shoulder, implied/referenced forced eye contact

Deceit was currently examining himself in a mirror in his bathroom. His new scar from Virgil, the one that curved down from his cheekbone to the corner of his lip, was healing well. It added to the pile of scars on the left side of his face and Deceit was not impressed.

"Maybe we can have another fun date soon," Deceit said to himself. Speaking of a fun date, he had to go remove the stitches from Virgil's side. 

He walked to Virgil's room, smirking when Virgil scowled and refused to look at him in the eyes. "I'm back!"

"Really? Wow, I didn't notice," Virgil grumbled.

"You still have such an attitude," Deceit said and crouched in front of Virgil. Deceit lifted up Virgil's shirt, holding onto his wrists when Virgil tried to smack him, and looked at the currently stitched wound. It healed well, all Deceit had to do was remove the stitches and keep an eye on it for a few more days.

"Hm," Deceit let the shirt fall. "Come one. We're going to remove your stitches." Deceit hauled Virgil up to his feet and dragged him to a bathroom.

Deceit made Virgil sit on the counter. "Take off your shirt," he said as he got clean scissors, neosporin, bandages, and a cloth. 

Virgil didn't take off his shirt, "You can go give yourself some stitches. If you need some help getting the wound, I can do that easily."

Deceit pulled Virgil's shirt off, though it took ten minutes because of how much Virgil struggled. "I can just reopen your side and leave it to get infected. Now, are you going to listen to me or are we going to have another punishment?"

Virgil growled at Deceit, glaring at him. He grit his teeth and shut his eyes in pain when Deceit pressed on his dislocated shoulder.

"Maybe I can relocate and dislocate this again," Deceit muttered to himself. 

Deceit shrugged and grabbed the scissors, cutting the stitches and pulling them out of Virgil's skin. He gently put neosporin on the wound, taking a picture with his phone, and picked up the bandages. Deceit glanced in the mirror as he wrapped the bandage around Virgil, looking at the pale back. What a shame it would be if Virgil's back was carved up. 

Deceit secured the bandage and pulled him off the counter after letting Virgil put his shirt on. When Virgil was right next to him, Deceit relocated his shoulder, smirking at the pained shout. 

Virgil shoved Deceit but the other gained his balance and grabbed his wrists when Virgil stepped away. 

"Ah, ah! You're not going anywhere," Deceit hissed. "Right now you're going to eat and then we'll be having some fun."

Deceit dragged Virgil to a room that had a table with chairs with a wall that had an opening leading to a kitchen. Deceit forced Virgil into the chair and strapped his legs and arms onto the chair. 

While Deceit went to the kitchen, Virgil wiggled his wrists and tried to escape the chair. He huffed when he couldn't escape the chair, the straps were too tight. 

Deceit walked back into the room, carrying a plate and water bottle. "Open up,"

Virgil grudgingly opened his mouth, eating the food. He drank the water and Deceit let him out of the chair. Deceit led him back to his room and left him in the dark.

 

Roman was taking a nap, trying to catch up on his sleep, and was awaken to the sound of a notification on his phone. He opened the notification, rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly to get rid of the sleep in his eyes.

He looked at the image, seeing that it was deep wound that looked somewhat raw. Roman took a guess that it was Virgil since the message came from Deceit's number. He got another image and was relieved and more upset when it was a picture of Virgil being forced to look at the camera, a gloved hand grabbing his jaw. 

Roman rolled out of bed and walked out of the room. His phone started ringing with a call from Thomas and he picked up.

"Thomas? What's wrong?" 

"Oh, nothing is wrong. I'm calling to let you know that we have a recording of the kidnapping. A witness came in with the recording on her phone," Thomas said, "I was wondering if you'd like to come to the police station and view it. You can bring Remy, Logan, and the others."

Roman nodded, then remembered that he was on a phone call. "Yeah, I'll be right over!" 

"Okay, I'll see you soon, Roman." Thomas hung up.

Roman hung up and made a groupchat with Remy, Emile, and the other married couple. _Thomas got a recording of Virgil's kidnapping!! meet up in Sanders' office in twenty mins?_

The message was seen by Remy, who wrote back: _I'll tell the old men. Go ahead, we'll be there soon_.

Roman sent a thumbs up and got in his car. He drove to the police department and immediately went to Thomas' office.

"Thomas!" Roman said, closing the door, "Did you already watch the video?"

Thomas nodded, "Yeah. There's nothing major in it other than the kidnapping, don't worry."

Roman nodded and sat down. Thomas set up the video and turned the computer around so Roman could watch it.

The video wasn't the best quality, everything was a bit blurry, but it was good enough. The witness recorded Deceit carrying Virgil over his shoulder and he opened the back door to a black PT Cruiser. Deceit put Virgil in the backseat, shut the door, and got into the drivers seat. The PT Cruiser was driven away and the camera tried to focus in on the license plate. 

"Pause the video," Roman said to Thomas. He squinted at the screen and tried to read the license plate. He could only make out some letters and a number. Something like FC..6..2.  
skin  
Roman leaned in further, squinting some more. He couldn't read it, which was ridiculous to him since he could see Virgil's ring, a thing way smaller than these numbers and letters, on a recording.

The door opened a few minutes later and the other four members of their family walked into the room. Thomas replayed the video for them.

"It's ridiculous that I can't read the license plate!" Roman complained.

"Well, first of all: it's really blurry, not exactly the best recording, and two: there's barely any light in the video." Remy said, leaning over Roman's shoulder and closely examining the paused video. "It's FC, something, six, and then something else."

"Well yeah, I could read that, too." Roman sighed. 

Remy hummed, leaning back and standing up properly. Remy's face seemed calm but anyone could see the anger and frustration in their green eyes. "Can you zoom in further?"

Thomas shook his head, "That would only make it more blurry."

"Did you ask the witness if they remembered the license plate?" Patton asked.

"Yes, she didn't remember it," Thomas said. He turned the computer around to face him and rested his head in his hand, "We'll be asking around for more witnesses, see if they were too anxious to come here or something. Logan, would you mind assisting again?"

Logan shook his head, "I would not mind."

"Great," Thomas said, "An extra pair of hands should help."

Roman leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and sighed. "Oh, I forgot; I've got to go to the bank for something tomorrow."

Patton perked up, "Oh, yeah!" 

Thomas nodded and they all excused themselves. 

As they left the building, Roman muttered something about Remus having the information or else he'll shove him down a flight of stairs. He assured Patton that he did it all the time when they were younger, including Remus whacking him in the head. It wasn't very comforting.

But then again, all of them have been on edge for a while. They weren't making too much progress to getting to Virgil and they all had a feeling Virgil's torture was going to get worse very soon. Remy knew Virgil would be more traumatized soon, and they prayed (and they didn't pray often) that they can find Virgil sooner rather than later. 

It was unlikely. 


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Sexual harassment (non-non kissing, non-con groping, etc.), non-consensual drugging, non-consensual biting, profanity (swearing), flashing memories/PTSD, implied/referenced manipulation, implied/referenced anxiety/panic attacks, implied/referenced sex, implied/referenced waterboarding, forced drinking (alcohol), forced eye contact
> 
> Bold words are memories/PTSD

Roman quietly got out of bed and left his bedroom. Logan and Patton have been staying at his place overnight, sleeping together on the couch, or Roman spent the night(s) at their place. It helped a lot, especially when Roman had a panic attack, thinking about how they could never find Virgil or they might find him dead, or maybe _they_ would get-

Roman shook his head, forcing the thoughts out of his head. He tiptoed past the couch where Patton laid on top of Logan, both peacefully asleep, and checked the time. _1:02_. Great.

Roman got the car keys and left the apartment with as little noise as possible. He locked the door behind him and got in the car, starting it and driving to Remus' place. 

Three in the morning and Roman was knocking on the door. When Remus didn't answer within a minute, Roman tried to open the door but it was locked. 

"You've got to be fucking with me," Roman muttered. He went to the closest window and forced it open, climbing through it. 

Roman closed the window and flicked on the light. He squinted, looking around and finding a small note. He read it.

_Roman, I know you were expecting me but I forgot to tell you something! I won't be back for a year at the least because I'm on vacation! Just imagine on what could happen! I could actually get some D, if you know what I'm talking about ;)_

Roman's face scrunched as he continue reading the note, reading Remus' random thoughts (they were graphic) but a certain sentence caught his attention by the time he finished it.

_... Talking about water (minus the sex), you should ask Remy about their experience with it. It might be useful to you... Could you imagine-_

No, Roman was not going to finish that sentence. He frowned, wondering if he should actually ask Remy about water. He always noticed Remy stayed away from large bodies of water, like lakes, if they could...

Roman scowled, mad that Remus left without telling him information (and that he told him to ask Remy about something Deceit might have traumatized them about), and pulled out his phone. He tried calling the number Remus last called him by but when an old-sounding woman answered, he apologised and hung up.

He ran a hand through his hair, taking the note, and got back in the car, driving two hours back to his apartment. Halfway there, he decided to go to Remy's house.

 

Remy groaned loudly when someone repeatedly played their doorbell, just wanting to sleep. Remy sighed, slipping out of Emile's arms (thank god he was a heavy sleeper), and answered the door. 

"Hey there, Remy..." Roman said, looking exhausted. 

Remy crossed their arms, "It's five in the goddamn morning, Prince. You better-"

"Yes, I've got a good reason. I swear!" Roman added when he saw Remy's look of _it better not be because someone disagreed with your acting skills_.

Remy invited Roman inside the house, "What is it?"

They sat on the couch after Remy made some coffee. Roman fidgeted with his hands, trying to draw it out some more.

"Roman?"

Roman sighed, pulling out the note from his jacket pocket. "Remus- no, don't give me that look- was supposed to be giving me information but he left at the last minute, claiming to be gone on 'vacation'," Roman used air quotes, "and a specific sentence caught my eye. Of course, it's in between sex and murder but he wrote 'talking about water, you should ask Remy about their experience with it. It might be useful to you'." He left out the 'minus sex' part.

Remy frowned, "And... you're asking me about water?"

Roman nodded.

"Well, my experience with water is that I need to drink it to survive. Sadly, only drinking coffee cannot give me proper hydration."

Roman rested his head on his hand, "That's not what I meant."

Remy sighed, "I was hoping that was what you meant."

Roman shook his head. 

Remy really didn't want to talk about it- **lungs are burning and Remy is inhaling salty water before being dragged back up** \- and really didn't want to relive it. Sure, Remy would talk to Emile about it since he was a therapist and Remy's boyfriend but still. "You know waterboarding and the sorts, right?"

Roman nodded. Sadly, he did know waterboarding and he knew how terrible it was. Sometimes you don't get out of it alive. 

"That's what happened, and I avoid water whenever I can." Remy sipped on their coffee, happy that they could explain to Roman what happened _very_ vaguely.

Roman gave the other a pitying look.

"Don't." Remy said pointedly, and Roman knew it was about the pity. 

Roman nodded and Remy told him he could stay for a nap, offering the couch, before leaving and crawling back into Emile's arms. And if Remy woke up crying, a nightmare about what happened, with Emile comforting them, neither person spoke about it. 

 

Deceit was currently on his phone, messaging Remus. _You left already?_

_From Annoying Brat: Yes, and I didn't give anybody any information other than sex and murdering dogs. I'm on my way now_

Deceit smirked. He left the message on _read_ and thought about all of the fun he'd be having today. Remus was only coming over to give Deceit ketamine and then he was leaving for a "vacation."

Deceit got up and answered the front door when Remus knocked. 

"Dee!" Remus exclaimed, grinning.

"No," Deceit flatly said. 

Remus pouted and sighed, "Fine. I'm just saying you're missing out on some good times."

"I literally only want the ketamine." Deceit said.

"I've got it," Remus said and gave Deceit a bag containing a white powder. "How's my brother-in-law?"

"Suffering."

Remus hummed, "The side?"

"Healing."

"Alrighty, then. I'm gone!" Remus said. 

Deceit nodded, about to close the door, when Remus gave Deceit a quick kiss and skipped away, swinging his mace weapon. 

"Disgusting," Deceit hissed and closed the door, locking it. He got some whiskey, pouring it in a glass and put some of the ketamine it it. When he was satisfied with the amount of drugs in it, he funneled the liquor into an empty water bottle after stirring it in.

Deceit walked into Virgil's room, grinning. He knew Virgil never had whiskey before, just like the vodka, so Virgil would never be able to know there was an off taste about the drink. "Virgil~"

Virgil, as usual, growled and backed away from Deceit.

"Aw, you don't love me anymore? I thought we were getting along!" Deceit chuckled, cornering Virgil.

"I'd be surprised if anybody liked you," Virgil spat. He refused to look Deceit in the eyes.

"Hm, really?" Deceit asked, grabbing Virgil's cheeks (he resisted the urge to squish them) and forced him to look up. "That's funny, since someone just kissed me."

Virgil still wasn't looking him in the eyes but his nose crinkled, "I pity them."

Deceit hummed, "Look at me, Virgil." Said man did not listen. "Virgil, you don't want anything to happen to Remy or Patton, do you? Or Roman, maybe Logan?" Deceit chuckled, "Or maybe I can get Emile, tell Remy it's your fault and make Remy hate you."

Virgil pursed his lips, eyeing the bottle in Deceit's other hand.

"After all, they don't exactly like you anymore. The videos I sent them really did convince them that you're not worth saving if you're going to be that pathetic." Deceit's eyes flashed, "Especially Remy. Remy took everything like a champ, they think you're weak. And you are, they just weren't convinced until now. I've texted them actually," Deceit smirked, "and they said that they're not going to bother saving you."

That got to Virgil. His eyes widened for a second, teeth gritting, "Not true."

"Oh? Then tell me why they haven't informed the police? Or why they haven't bothered trying to get information about your kidnapping."

Virgil swallowed, blinking away tears.

"Now you understand," Deceit chuckled, "they're doing _nothing_ for you. We'll be having more fun and if you behave well enough, you might get some rewards."

Virgil jerked his head back, trying to get Deceit to let go of his jaw. "Let me go!"

Deceit sighed, fake disappointment evident in his voice, "And I thought you wouldn't make this hard for once. Virgil, you're going to drink this-" Deceit lifted the whiskey- "and behave."

Virgil didn't open his mouth when Deceit got closer with the bottle. 

"This," Deceit forced open Virgil's mouth, "is getting old." He started pouring the whiskey down Virgil's throat but Virgil knocked it out of Deceit's hand. 

Deceit caught the bottle, exhaling deeply when he saw some of it spilled out of the bottle. He forced open Virgil's jaw again and forced him to drink the rest of the liquor, having a tight grip and not letting Virgil knock it out of his hand again. 

Virgil stumbled when Deceit stepped back, waiting for the drug to take full effect. Deceit grinned and grabbed Virgil by the arm, dragging him forward.

"What-" Virgil's question was cut off by Deceit kissing him. He tried to get away, weakly pushing at Deceit's chest and trying to turn his head away, but he couldn't. He whimpered softly as Deceit continued licking into his mouth, running his tongue over his teeth and along the roof of his mouth, making Virgil squirm even more.

Deceit pulled away, enjoying the soft pants and flush on Virgil. He held onto Virgil's sleeve and walked to his bedroom, Virgil stumbling behind him. Deceit pushed Virgil onto his queen sized bed. 

He set up a camera angled at the bed, he would transfer the video to his phone later. Deceit turned around, finished with setting up the camera, and chuckled when he saw Virgil try and get up. "That's useless, Virge," Deceit said, pressing _record_ on the camera.

Virgil glared at Deceit, though it was obvious he was dazed. "Fuck you," he slurred.

Deceit hummed, walking to him. "That could happen," he said and climbed onto the bed. 

"No," Virgil frowned and tried to get away from Deceit. 

Deceit took Virgil's wrists in one hand and held them above his head, sitting on Virgil's hips and pinning him down. He leaned down but Virgil pursed his lips ( _again_ ) hooked two fingers into Virgil's mouth and forced it open, diving down and licking into his mouth again.

Virgil shifted, trying to break the kiss but Deceit only kissed him harder. Virgil whimpered when Deceit sucked on his tongue and slipped a hand under shirt, massaging and lightly scraping the skin. God, he hated this so damn much.

Deceit broke the kiss and moved down, kissing and sucking on Virgil's jaw and throat. He sat and removed Virgil's shirt before leaning back down, smirking against Virgil's skin when he gasped when Deceit sucked on his collarbone. Deceit sucked harder, biting down and licking over it.

Virgil squirmed, grabbing Deceit's hair and tugged on the short strands, trying to get Deceit away from him.

Deceit leaned back, looking down at Virgil. Virgil had dark bruises forming, there were some lighter marks too, and there were some red lines on Virgil's stomach and close to his chest from Deceit lightly scratching him.

"Get off," Virgil mumbled, eyes glazed over and half open. He was panting softly and his flush on his face reached down to his chest. 

"Nah," Deceit said leaning down again.

Virgil bit his lip, a soft, unwilling moan in the back of his throat could be heard, when Deceit sucked on his collarbone again, starting to go down to his chest. Virgil grabbed his shoulders, shoving with all his might, his mind screaming for Deceit to get away and that this wrong.

Deceit was actually moved, his lips forcefully unattached from Virgil. "It sounded like you were enjoying this," Deceit said, eyes amused.

"This- this is wrong. Stop," Virgil said though it was getting harder to speak.

"Oh? I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do this," Deceit said. He leaned down again, enjoying the way Virgil tried to get him away again.

"This-" Virgil cut himself off with a gasp when Deceit sucked on a nipple, "S-stop... I have a- I have a husband!" 

"Do you?" Deceit asked, detaching himself from Virgil. "You don't have a ring on you."

Virgil's eyes teared up when Deceit kissed him again, just wanting him to stop. Deceit kissed down his throat again and Virgil was faintly aware that his pants were slowly turning into hyperventilating. Tears slowly went down his face as Deceit sucked more hickies into his throat and collarbone. Most of them would be visible, even with a shirt. 

Deceit's hand slithered down Virgil's stomach, grabbing his crotch. 

"Stop!" Virgil sobbed.

Deceit grinned up at him, still groping Virgil, and kissed him again. He glanced at the camera, ignoring Virgil's sobs and whimpers, just in time to see that it stopped recording. He pulled off Virgil's lips and bit his neck a few times, licking them, and then got off the bed.

Deceit checked the camera, seeing that it ended a few seconds after he glanced at it. He hummed, satisfied, and looked at Virgil, who was sobbing and hyperventilating softly. Deceit grinned, taking the camera and left the room. He locked the door behind him.

Deceit walked to his living room and sat on the couch with his phone and camera. He transferred the video from the camera to his phone and sent it to a groupchat he made with Roman and Remy. _I'm surprised that he didn't pass out. He did better than you, Rem, I'm starting to think he'd be a great play toy._

He couldn't wait for their reactions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, I am only alive because of coffee right now, dears. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :))


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood/gore, cuts, whipping, knives, illnesses, vomiting, profanity (swearing), mental breakdown, mentioned/referenced past rape, implied/referenced past toxic relationship(s), implied/referenced torture, implied/referenced PTSD, implied/referenced sexual harassment, implied/referenced broken bones

Virgil groaned, shifting around before settling back down. Right now, Deceit was watching Virgil sleep and was being kind enough to let him sleep in his bed rather than on the floor of his usual room. Or wake him up early for their date. Deceit had to say he was tempted to use Virgil more often the way he had last night, his whimpers and protests were adorable. 

As much fun as yesterday had bee, Deceit decided to have a different kind of date with him today. It would be much more excitable. 

Deceit took a picture of Virgil and sent it to the groupchat, no one checked the messages yet. 

He continued watching Virgil sleep, adoring the hickies and tear tracks on him. They looked good and Deceit smirked every time he thought about how they occurred. 

Deceit moved Virgil's bangs out of his face, the purple dye was starting to fade again but it was barely noticeable. He noticed that Virgil's skin was a bit warmer than usual, it had been for two days now, and Deceit considered the possibility of Virgil getting a fever. He'd check again after their date, when Virgil was too exhausted to fight him.

Virgil sighed and unconsciously moved towards Deceit's cool hand which was currently free of his glove, a rare occurrence. Deceit pulled his hand away and put his glove back on, getting up and locking Virgil in the room.

Deceit walked to the room where Virgil was electrocuted, smiling at the memories, and went to a box hidden in a dark corner. He opened the box and pulled out a whip and dull knife. He set them down on the table by the metal table for later and left the room again.

He couldn't wait for once Virgil woke up. Deceit wasn't going to drug him, he had been using drugs as little as possible (Virgil was difficult, even when he was starting to break), so Virgil would get the full experience. Deceit grinned again... He's been doing that often. 

 

Roman woke up to being spammed by Patton, who eventually called. Roman wasn't surprised. "Hello?"

"Oh, thank god! Roman, don't ever just run off again! We thought you'd been kidnapped by Deceit." Patton sniffled.

Roman immediately felt the guilt rise up in him, knowing that he caused Patton to cry. "Sorry, Pat. I just visited Remy and I fell asleep, I should've sent you a message." 

"Yeah, you should have, but it's fine, Roman. I'm not upset at you." Patton said, "Didn't you have to visit Remus today? For the info on Virge?"

Roman rubbed his neck and sighed, "That's the thing, padre. I did go to Remus' place, it was three in the morning, but he wasn't there. He only left a note saying he went on vacation and wouldn't contact us except for the yearly call we have." 

Patton didn't say anything for a minute. "He's... on vacation?"

"Yeah."

"And he didn't... he didn't leave any information on Virgil?"

"No."

Patton took a deep breath (Roman could _see_ the Disappointed Parent face) and muttered something under his breath. "Of course. You and Remy said something about Remus not being trustworthy a while back."

Roman remembered that clearly. It was Christmas two years ago and Patton was asking if he should invite Remus. Remy and Roman said no, listing off reasons of why he shouldn't even _talk_ to him. "Yep," he said. 

Patton was quietly before saying, "Don't ever go somewhere without telling me or Logan again."

"Okay."

"Well, I'll let you go now. I'll tell Logan you-"

There was shuffling, a squawk, and Logan was suddenly on the phone. "Roman?"

"Hi mom," Roman said.

"You ran off without telling us, Roman. Where were you? Where are you now?" 

"I left at one- yes, in the morning- to get the information from Remus, but he wasn't there. So there's no information and I don't know where he is."

"... Did you try calling him?" Logan asked.

"Yes."

"And he didn't give you anything about Virgil?" 

"No."

"Did you receive anything from Deceit?" Logan hesitantly asked.

"I- I haven't checked," Roman muttered. 

Logan hummed, "We'll let you go. You should check and see if there's anything from Deceit."

"I'll be coming back, then I'll check my notifications," Roman said as he got up. He sent a message to Emile, letting him know that he was leaving to go back home, and drove home.

He opened the apartment door and walked in, closing it behind him. "Are you guys still here?" 

Patton rushed to him with Logan following him and gave Roman a hug, Logan joining in for a second before releasing the two. "Do not do that."

"Okay!" Roman somewhat whined.

Logan nodded, "Have you checked?"

Roman shook his head and logged into his phone. He hesitated on clicking on a groupchat notification with Remy and Deceit in it but he eventually opened it. 

The groupchat had a video on it, the cover image was Virgil, clearly drugged, on a bed with the message _I'm surprised that he didn't pass out. He did better than you, Rem, I'm starting to think he'd be a great play toy._

Roman frowned at the twenty minute video, plugged in his earbuds, and pressed _play_. When the video was finished, Deceit grinning at the camera and Virgil on the verge of an anxiety attack. The video was sent three days ago. Roman didn't know how to feel.

Actually, he knew he was furious and there was dread in his guts so he knows how to feel. What he didn't know was how to react. Roman wanted to throw his phone, scream and cry, or maybe kill that snake but he felt frozen.

Deceit _sexually harassed Roman's husband_. Virgil, a man who dearly loved his husband and suffered from severe anxiety, was being sexually harassed and Deceit could _rape_ him if he wished.

Roman swallowed thickly, blinking away the tears and looking at who saw the messages. Remy saw the message half an hour ago; that was long enough to watch the video and read the message.

"Someone should-" Roman swallowed again, not noticing Patton and Logan's alarmed looks- "someone needs to call Remy, or Emile. W-we need to check up on them." 

Roman was about to call the couple himself but he was called by _D for Dumbass_. "What the _fuck_."

"Ah, I assume you've seen the video. It took you a good while-"

"Why?" Roman asked, "Why the hell are you doing this?"

"For revenge, of course!" Deceit said. 

Roman took out his earplugs and put the call on speakerphone so the other two could listen in. Roman held a finger against his lips, telling them not to make noise inaudibly. "What revenge?"

Deceit chuckled, "I suppose I could give you some information, though it'll come at a price."

"Wait-"

"I'm claiming my revenge because of what happened a few years ago," Deceit cut Roman off, "and no, it's not just Remy. Though it is mostly them. No, this includes Patton."

Roman could see Patton tense and shake his head. Roman nodded, signing to him that he'll be fine and doesn't trust Deceit. Thank god that their whole family knew American Sign Language.

"Patton is not as innocent as he seems, nor is he as kind. See, before Patton met Logan, we were together. Of course, he said to take things slow but I didn't and I had my way with him," Deceit said. Patton buried his face into his hands and Logan comfortably rubbed his back, "He left me. He met Logan and forgot about me, going on the even _marry_ the pathetic nerd."

Roman moved over to sit next to Patton, giving him a side hug and kissing the top of his head. "That's a pathetic excuse that only weak peasants would use. Nobody deserves the shit that you give them."

"Strike one, Prince." Deceit growled. "Moving on, I met Remy. I genuinely cared for Remy but then they left me because we were in a 'toxic relationship'. I've never heard of a more weak excuse to dump someone but I taught Remy their lesson. I'd say it was a year and a half well spent."

Logan was currently stroking Patton's hair, listening intently, and Patton was curled into his side. 

"The thing is that Remy got away without paying the full price and Patton's still in debt. So, in order to get my revenge and their debt, I took one of the people that would affect them the most: Virgil. Virgil isn't anywhere near done, and he isn't going anywhere any time soon."

Roman was about to snap at Deceit but a beep informed him the the criminal hung up. Roman growled and threw his phone onto the couch across from him, luckily not breaking it. "I," Roman took a shaky breath, "am so sorry."

"It's not your fault, none of it," Patton said, "If anything, it's my fault-"

"No." Logan said firmly, "It is _not your fault."_

"But if I had stayed with him-" 

"You would have been in a sexually and emotionally abusive relationship, possibly a physically abusive one too." Logan said, "It's good that you left him." 

"But Virgil-" 

"We will find him, Pat." Logan said softly. 

Patton's lower lip trembled, "Virgil-" 

"Will be okay." 

Roman glanced at Logan, who nodded, and he left to call Remy. He trusted Logan, he was really good at comforting people once he gets to know them. 

Roman called Remy, frowning when they didn't picked up. He called Emile next, growing (more) concerned when he didn't pick up either. 

After ten minutes in his room, his phone was buzzing because Emile was calling. "Hello?" Roman asked. 

"Hey," Emile said, "you called. I'm just calling back, if you're busy that's fine I can-" There was retching in the background, Emile softly cursing and then providing words of comfort. 

Roman raised an eyebrow, "Is someone sick?" 

Emile sighed, "I assume you've seen the video? Yeah, well, Remy saw it and they had a panic attack so bad that they can't stop throwing up..." 

"Oh my god, do I need to come over? Or-" Roman cut himself off. He didn't think Patton would say no to helping someone else, even if he desperately wanted to. "Or I can do something?" 

"No, no. It'll be fine, I'll need to have sessions with Remy again and stay with them but everything'll be okay." Emile sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Roman, but Roman could emotionally relate to that. 

"Hm, okay, Emile." 

"Okay-" more retching- "I have to go," 

"Alright, bye. Good luck," Roman said and hung up. 

Roman needed some really great luck but it didn't look like he would get any good karma soon. So, instead of curling up and sobbing like he wanted, he left his room and went to help Patton. He could at least do that before going back to living on their computer, hunting down any information about Deceit they could find or even discover where Virgil was being hidden away. 

Virgil, despite being sick and getting more and more bruises (along with broken bones), struggled and fought against Deceit every time he was dragged through the halls. Especially this time, when the criminal said he'd been planning their "date" for a few days by now. 

"It'll be better if you don't try to get away, Vee." Deceit said. 

"Don't call me that," Virgil growled. He burst into a coughing fit and it didn't seem to stop for hours. Virgil was dizzy and nauseous when he stopped. 

Deceit opened the door to a familiar room, "If you don't struggle too much, I'll take care of you for a few days. You're sick, after all, and I'm sure you'd _love_ to catch a break." 

Virgil glowered at Deceit, "There are no 'breaks' with you." 

"And that's where you're wrong," Deceit gave Virgil a crooked smile, "All you have to do is be a good boy." 

"That is _disgusting_ ," Virgil said. He eyed where two ropes were attached to two columns, and then at where a black whip and somewhat sharp knife sat on a tray. 

"I suppose," Deceit was still smiling and pulled Virgil, forcing the purple shirt off, to where the sturdy ropes were. Virgil fought the whole time Deceit tied the ropes around his wrists but he quickly ran out of breathe. 

Virgil pulled at the ropes weakly but they didn't budge. "What are you doing? Let me go!" 

Deceit shook his head, smile turning more into a smirk, and walked away. Virgil tried to look over his shoulder to see what Deceit was doing but he couldn't see. 

Virgil flinched when a finger trailed down his spine, glaring at the wall in front of him when Deceit chuckled. 

"You're so entertaining, Virgil," Deceit purred as he stroked his back. He pulled away and Virgil could hear shuffling. 

Virgil gasped and grit his teeth when the whip broke his skin, making him bleed. Deceit continued whipping Virgil, enjoying the blood dripping down his back, about fifty times before he stopped. 

Deceit got the knife and examined Virgil's back (he loved the way he shook, unable to move due to the ropes) before looking at his left shoulder blade. It didn't have a mark on it and Deceit pressed the knife into the skin, reveling in the way Virgil cried out. He carved a word into the skin and stepped away when he finished it. 

Virgil gasped for breath and tears fell down his face. He sobbed when Deceit whipped him again, not stopping for hours. 

When Deceit was done, he took a picture of Virgil's back caked in blood and sent it to Roman. He untied Virgil, catching him as he collapsed, and carried the other back to a bedroom. 

Deceit placed Virgil on his stomach, getting disinfectant, water, bandages, and a cloth. He wiped Virgil's back with the water before applying the disinfectant ad wrapping the bandages around the smaller man. 

He placed the blanket over Virgil's lower half and looked at the word carved into his back happily. 

Deceit thought that _ANXIETY_ fit Virgil well, and he knew that everyone would agree. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be in California for (hopefully just) the weekend and I don't have mobile data (I'm broke) so I won't be able to update for a while but I'll update as soon as possible. I'm so sorry that this was late, I didn't plan on having emotional issues. I'll do better, I promise.Take care of yourselves, dears!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Illness (fevers, coughs, etc.), thoughts and dreams of torture, nightmares, profanity (swearing), dubious-consensual touching(?), blurry memories, blood/gore, a tiny suicidal thought (two words long, it's tiny)

Virgil's back screamed, his head felt cracked open, and everything hurt. Every move was painful, even breathing, and it was too hot and too cold at the same time. He was more cold than hot though, so Virgil buried himself under the large blankets.

A cold hand pressed against his forehead and Virgil leaned into it, but he also wanted it to get away at the same time. 

"Oh, you poor thing," a voice cooed, "You're sick. I guess I have to help you."

The voice was familiar and Virgil wanted it away. Where was he? He's sure he's not safe, he isn't home with Roman.

Virgil tried to blink open his eyes but the room was too bright and he whined, turning his head to the side. He inhaled too sharply and he burst out coughing, feeling nauseous and lightheaded when he was done. 

The hand rubbed his back, pressing on the open wounds, and the voice chuckled when he yelped and flinched away, tearing up even with closed eyes. 

"Don't be a baby," the voice said and the hand moved to his head, running the fingers through Virgil's hair. "You're fine."

"What?" Virgil croaked, cracking his eyes open. He looked at a man with golden eyes. For a second, Virgil was confused because Roman's golden eyes were warmer, like golden honey, while these golden eyes were just a metallic gold. Then Virgil remembered that this man is Deceit. So he was _not_ safe, not in the slightest. 

Deceit held out a water bottle, "Here. Take it, Virgil." He added when Virgil eyes the bottle warily, not wanting to burn his throat and throw up.

Deceit sighed, getting Virgil to open his mouth by holding his nose, and poured some water into Virgil's mouth. 

Virgil swallowed and, when he was sure it was only water and not alcohol, took the water so he could drink it himself. He whined and growled when Deceit made him take little sips. 

"Good boy," Deceit smirked and took the empty water bottle.

"Don't call me that," Virgil said. 

Deceit hummed and then got a bowl from the side table. Virgil didn't know that was there. 

"You need to eat too," Deceit said. He forced Virgil to hold still and fed the sick man, setting the bowl down when it was empty and forcing Virgil to lay back after he got off the bed. 

Virgil was asleep in seconds. 

 

Roman was shaking right now, he didn't know if it was the amount of caffeine he's had in the past hour or if it was the sleep deprivation again. Virgil's been missing for months and the police are making progress as fast as a snail. 

"Roman, you need to sleep," Logan said softly from behind him.

"I can't stop right now."

"I didn't say you can stop, I'm saying you need to." Logan said, "Do you wish to sleep in me and Patton's bed?"

Roman didn't answer Logan, he just kept typing.

Logan closed the computer, ignoring Roman's whines, and dragged Roman to the couples' bed. He laid next to Patton and Roman settled behind him, their backs facing each other. 

 

Virgil was somehow back at his apartment with Roman, the two were cuddling on the couch and watching Heathers.

"I still think the musical is better," Roman said.

Virgil hummed contentedly, resting his head on Roman's chest. "You think musicals are better than anything."

"Not true! Disney is amazing, and musicals are too. They're both tied for number two on the list of things I love."

"What's the first thing?"

"Crofters jam."

Virgil and Roman stared at each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

Virgil blinked and then he was back in the room where he was usually tortured in but instead of him being tortured, Roman was the one Deceit stabbed. He blinked, shocked (how could they be laughing and then crying the next second?) and then realizing he was staring at Roman's blood gushing out of his stomach and Roman was crying and _he was so pained_.

Deceit continued stabbing Roman, grinning right at Virgil with wild eyes, until Roman stopped screaming. Roman's chest wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing and his eyes were dead.

Virgil's eyes snapped open, launching himself forward to sit, and he gasped. He coughed, wanting it to either stop or kill him already, and he never noticed the hand on his back until he stopped. 

Water was placed into Virgil's hand and he drank it.

"Relax, nothing bad is going to happen to the others," Deceit said as he forced Virgil to lay down again. "It'll just be you." He added once Virgil was asleep again.

Deceit smirked, adding another blanket when Virgil kept shivering and got another idea of how to make the other miserable. Deceit could force him into a freezing cold room... He'll do that some other time, a while after Virgil got better so that it isn't a 100 percent chance that he'll die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever since chapter five, I planned out the chapters to attempt at a plot but this chapter is one of many where I just wrote what popped up in my head so I'm sorry if this isn't as good as the other chapters, nor as long. I just wanted to get another chapter out before I can't update for a few days.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Nightmares, torture, blood/gore, implied/referenced rape, threats/manipulation, minor/major injuries, (implied/referenced) anxiety attacks, profanity (swearing), forced eye contact, tempted self injury

Virgil was panicking, though that wasn't unusual by now. He was being forced to watch his family get tortured and he's praying to god that it's a dream. He covered his ears and closed his eyes, not being able to stand the sight of Patton's stomach being cut open and _his organs are being ripped out_. He whimpered, curling into himself, as Patton kept on screaming and sobbing. 

He sobbed as Patton went limp and Deceit moved onto Roman. Logan was already dead; Virgil had watched, paralyzed, as Deceit tore his throat out. 

Roman was screaming out for Virgil, fear and anger in his eyes. He was screaming _at_ Virgil, shouting about how this was his fault as Deceit slowly broke his bones. 

Virgil's body was shaking, a hand over his mouth to try to keep in his sobs. Whenever he glanced at Roman, he saw the pain, emotional and physical, and the anger. Oh god, Roman's mad at him. Roman's being tortured and he's mad at _Virgil_ ; why would he be mad at him? Roman would only be mad at Virgil if-

Virgil wailed as Deceit broke Roman's neck, a sickening crack echoing in his ears. It was _his_ fault, it'll always _be his fault; no matter what he does, Virgil will be the reason this is happening because he's weak and-_

Deceit walked leisurely to Remy, who was currently struggling the straps they were trapped in. "Virgil, you can do anything right now," he said as he picked up a needle, lifting it into the air where the light would hit it. "But you haven't even stepped forward. You're just standing there-" Deceit cleaned a bit of Remy's skin, right above a vein- "watching all of this happen."

Virgil choked on his words, sobbing. "Please- please don't!"

Deceit lifted the syringe, " _This_ is your doing. You haven't tried to stop me, or try to defend the people you claim to love." Deceit plunged the syringe into Remy's arm, injecting its contents. "This is a lethal injection that will paralyze Remy and slowly suffocate them until their breathing and heart stops. Remy will be dead in two minutes."

Virgil sobbed harder, wrapping his arms around himself. 

"The cure is right here," Deceit lifted another syringe, "and it'll save Remy if you make the effort. C'mon, Virge, are you going to save a life or be a murderer?"

Virgil's chest heaved, trying to breathe properly. He can't move, why can't he fucking move?!

"One minute."

Virgil gave up on trying to breathe, and his vision was hyper focused on the way Remy tried to struggle and groan softly. _Oh my god, he's a murderer. He let them all die, he could move if he tried to. He's not putting in the effort, he's letting them suffer and die AND IT'S HIS FAULT!!_

"Thirty seconds."

Virgil held his breath, he was on autopilot, and shook harder. Remy stopped breathing and their eyes unfocused. 

"And Remy is dead." Deceit grinned, golden eyes glinting.

Virgil passed out.

 

Remy shot up, gasping for breath. Flashes of pain and torture passed over Remy and they took a shaky breath. They coughed roughly when they inhaled too sharply.

"Rem?" 

Remy glanced at Emile, who was rubbing his eyes and sitting up. Emile was near-sighted, he didn't need his glasses right now. 

"Remy, did you have another nightmare?" 

Remy looked forward, wiping away tears, "No. I'm fine, Emile."

Emile leaned forward, squinting at Remy's face, "Remy, c'mon, talk to me."

"It's okay-"

"Love, I can see the tears." 

Remy wiped at their face harder, "I-" they sighed- "I'm scared." 

Emile shuffled closer to Remy, wrapping an arm around them when they leaned in. "I know."

"It's been months, and it's going to be a _year_ in five months. I don't have a clear idea what's happening to Virge and- and..." Remy trailed off. 

Emile ran his fingers through Remy's hair, "Take your time, and make sure you take deep breaths." 

Remy shakily sighed, hands trailing down their face. "I don't know what Deceit is doing to Virgil. Or what he plans on doing. Virge could be sick or dead or he could even be trapped, slowly starving and-" **Remy had been trapped for what they assumed a week or two in this pitch black room with no food, they were only getting water. Strangely, they weren't hungry but that only made them more anxious. They could starve in here, they probably _would_ starve-**

"You're not there, Remy." 

Remy took Emile's hand and fidgeted with his fingers, "God, you're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for." 

"You're the best, too." Emile said, lacing their fingers together. "I know Virgil has been missing for a while but he's going to be okay."

"The police haven't found much."

"Roman and Logan-"

"Why am I not doing anything?" Remy asked, frowning. "I mean, Roman and Logan have been doing their own search, and they've been doing well, but I haven't done anything other than be weak." 

"Remy, you haven't been weak, you're coping."

"Sitting around isn't going to do anything to help Virgil."

"You are _not_ just 'sitting around', you have PTSD and your brother has been kidnapped by the same man and now your trauma is coming back. You have nightmares and wake up screaming, or you have a panic attack or a mental breakdown. You _need_ to cope... Maybe you should go back to therapy." 

"You're a therapist," Remy pointed out.

"For couples, yes," Emile said softly, "I'm not the kind of therapist you need."

Remy sighed, "I'm sitting here useless as two shits and my boyfriend tells me to go to therapy while my brother is being tortured and abused. How great am I?"

"You're not useless, Remy. There is no way we can find Virgil on our own- and before you say something about Logan and Roman, they both have experience and are capable, you haven't done anything in that field. No, it's not useless or pathetic, you can help in your own way; when Virgil gets back, you and Roman can be there and support him."

Remy murmured, "God knows what he'll have gone through, and that's _if_ he comes back," before getting up. "Can we cuddle and watch _Wedding Singer_? It might make me feel better."

Emile smiled, getting up and holding Remy's hand before leaving for their living room. 

After setting up the movie, Remy laid on the couch with Emile on them. Remy had their hand on the back of Emile's neck, fingers near his pulse, and Emile wrapped his arms around Remy's waist. 

 

Patton was currently in the kitchen, ignoring the fact it's four in the morning, and was shakily getting a glass of water. Tonight had not been a good night for him, Deceit's words kept on echoing in his head even though it was a while ago. _Patton's still in debt._

Patton sipped his water, wondering if he should have dealt with the burning hands he screamed at. Yes, he should have stayed with Deceit so that his family wouldn't be hurt. He could've given up and let Deceit do whatever, even if it hurt, because everyone else would be safe and-

Patton screeched and dropped his glass, faintly processing the shards stabbing his feet, when Logan called out his name. 

Logan frowned and helped with Patton, picking him up and setting him on the counter when he saw his bleeding feet. "Patton, are you okay?"

Patton blinked, "Um... Yeah, I'm fine, Logan. Sorry about the mess," he added. 

"It's fine, let me clean the cuts," Logan said. He went to get peroxide, cotton balls, and thin bandages. He cleaned and wrapped Patton's feet (there were a _lot_ of cuts) before cleaning up the glass. "Be careful, there still might be some glass."

Patton nodded and got off the counter, "What are you doing up, Lo?"

"It's five. I'm going to do some more research for Virgil and then we're going to spend the day together."

"Really?"

Logan nodded, "You haven't been sleeping well and we need to relax. We've all been on edge for a while now."

"Oh. Okay," Patton said. 

Logan smiled gently and the two moved to the couch, Patton resting against Logan's side and eventually falling asleep. 

"What's been going through your head?" Logan asked quietly, not stopping the small circles in Patton's back. He hoped it wasn't about his self worth and Deceit.

After a few more hours, Logan had to shake Patton awake because he was shouting and crying. 

Patton's eyes snapped open and he lunged away, shouting out, "Please don't!" 

"Patton, it's me. Logan. It's okay, no one's going to do anything," Logan said calmly. 

Patton wiped his tears away and blinked at Logan, "Oh." He got up and went to Logan after a few moments, curling into his side again.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just, say stuff? Distract me, please?"

Logan hummed, closing the computer and gently wrapping his arms around Patton. "When baby squirrels aren't being taken care of, another squirrel will adopt them. Also, the heart of a shrimp is in its head."

Patton was already relaxing, so Logan continued saying random facts about animals. 

 

Virgil had been awake for a while now, but he couldn't calm down completely. Every time he thought he was about to calm down, he remembered a particular part of the nightmare and panicked again. He was tempted to hit his head against a wall until he was unconscious. 

The door opened and more light slipped into the room and Virgil was taking deep, shaky breaths from the floor. He fell off when he woke up and he hadn't bothered to get back up. 

"Virgil," Deceit said and closed the door. "I just got an idea for a date-"

"Are they okay?" Virgil choked out.

"Who?"

"My _family_ , you idiot!" Virgil snapped, glaring at Deceit through the tears. When Deceit's face darkened, Virgil curled further into himself, knowing he'd made a mistake.

"They're fine," Deceit coldly said, crouching in front of Virgil. "Though that wasn't a very nice way to ask, Vee."

"Don't-"

"Do you really want to try me right now, Virgil?" 

Virgil pursed his lips, breathing heavily through his nose. He was trying to not hold his breath, which was what he usually did when he was having an anxiety attack. 

"That's what I thought, Virge. You know I only want the best for you, right?" 

Virgil didn't say anything. 

Deceit hummed, gently grabbing Virgil by the jaw and made him look into his eyes. "Anyway, Virge, I had a date idea. I was going to do it in a few days but maybe you deserve it for misbehaving. What do you think?"

Virgil gritted his teeth, "No."

"No?" Deceit repeated, "And why don't you think we should do it today. I'm sure that we'll have fun."

"I didn't do anything."

"Ah, but you snapped at me."

Virgil's breath hitched and he looked away from Deceit.

Deceit took off his glove and pressed his wrist against Virgil's forehead. "You're still sick. The fever must be getting to you." He put his glove back on and picked Virgil up, placing him back on the bed. 

Deceit got a water bottle and placed it in Virgil's hands, letting him open it. "We don't want you dehydrated. After all, I care about you."

Virgil drank the water, slowly calming down. He was still on edge, afraid of what Deceit was going to do or say, and he kept as much distance as possible. Virgil's pretty sure he can't run too far anytime soon, he always felt lightheaded. 

"I'll bring food in later but I wanted to talk to you about our date. I was thinking the day after tomorrow, I think you'll enjoy it."

Virgil muttered, "Since when have I ever enjoyed your torture?"

"What was that?" Deceit asked, danger hidden in the words.

"Nothing." 

"Hm, right. Anyway, I was thinking you'd like something other than soup for once, maybe oatmeal? I'm sure you've had it before, Vee."

Virgil squinted at Deceit suspiciously, "What?"

"Oatmeal. I'll give you some on Thursday."

Does that mean it's Tuesday? 

"Anyway, the date is actually going to have food. I'll get some more tea, too. I think it'd be good for you to get out of this room for a few minutes. We could even go into the backyard for a few minutes, get some fresh air." Deceit continued, "Maybe we can call the others. Would you like that?"

Virgil nodded slowly. If they went outside, maybe he could get an idea of where they are and when they call the family, he could tell them where he is. Except, he'd have to be incredibly careful. He doesn't want to imagine what'll happen if he's caught in the act.

Deceit got up, "If you try anything funny, Virgil, then we'll have to change our plans. Maybe you'd like another visit with waterboarding, or maybe a trip to the furnace and iron rod. I'll be back with food sometime." He left.

Virgil watched the door close and heard it lock. He shivered at the thought of doing either of those things again- **he could smell the burning flesh and hear it sizzle, even over his screaming - He could feel the water rushing up his nose and his lungs burn-** and rubbed his temples.

He was tempted to not try. He could give up, wait until he died or maybe Deceit would let him go. The risk of getting caught and getting more scars, more torture and possible death... It just didn't seem worth it. 

But every time he thought that maybe he should stop resisting, let Deceit do whatever and hope for the best, Roman popped into his head. 

Deceit always said, "Roman would do this, too. I know because we both care about you, we want what's best for you," even if it was while Virgil was screaming and writhing. Roman wouldn't ever hurt Virgil on purpose. 

Right? They used to fight all the time, but Roman never physically hit him and would always apologise for the argument. 

Virgil's eyes teared up. It was so hard to do this shit! Who knows what would happen if he was completely compliant but he doesn't know if it would be easier or not. If Virgil behaved, did whatever Deceit wanted, he could be safe until he left. Deceit just told him about something that _didn't_ include torture. But that could be a lie, a temptation. 

Well, when Deceit took him outside, Virgil could get an idea of where he was. He hoped he'd be able to tell the others, even if he got caught.

Virgil sighed, leaning forward and resting his head in his hands. Deceit said he cared, but he tortured him. He said Roman would do the same if he ever got to return home, that Roman would hate him for what happened and that it would be better if he didn't resist anymore.

Virgil wants to believe that's not true, but what if Roman _did_ hate him again because of all the scars, mental and physical? What if Remy disowned him as family and Emile followed?

Or if Logan said that he was no longer able to be cherished, and that's a fact? And Patton said he could love anyone but Virgil?

Virgil dreaded the possible fact that Deceit was right about his family. He also hated himself for even considering giving in and believing Deceit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this is about three days late, everything's been a bit crazy lol


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Dubious-consensual gagging, non-consensual/forced drinking (alcohol), brief asphyxiation (strangulation), minor injuries/major injuries, implied/referenced depression, stabbing, blood/gore
> 
> Temperatures are in Fahrenheit.

Patton and Logan had fallen asleep on the couch, unexpectedly, but Patton felt better so Logan didn't complain about his already ruined sleep schedule. 

Their breakfast was simple, just toast (with Crofters jam) and bacon with eggs on the side, and the couple made it together so it was a good restart to the day. 

"Hey, we should check on Roman. It's been a while since we last talked to him," Patton said, "I'm kind of worried, especially since he said not to check on him."

Logan placed his dish in the sink, "To be exact, he said 'you guys don't have to be worried about me for a while.'"

Patton placed his dish next to Logan's dish in the sink, "Well, yeah but still. It's been four days, I think."

"We can go check on him soon, we just have to do a few things around here. Unless you'd prefer to visit Roman now and clean later?" 

Patton looked around and glanced into the family room, "I think we should clean first and then bring Roman over here. Does that sound good?"

Logan nodded and started placing the dishes in the dishwasher while Patton hoovered. Patton put on music not too long after they started cleaning and eventually dragged Logan into a dance where he kept laughing. 

After a while, they were able to finish cleaning the house. Patton and Logan drove to Roman's apartment and knocked on the door. 

Roman opened the door, rubbing one eye and yawning. "Oh, hey." 

"Hi!" Patton said cheerily, "We came to check up on you."

Roman blinked, "You didn't have to."

"We know that," Logan said.

"Mm, alright," Roman said through a yawn, "So why are you here?"

"To make sure you're alive. And make sure you're sleeping," Patton added, "How long ago did you get at least six hours of sleep?"

"A week?"

Patton nodded and went into the apartment, Logan following after. "We're going to sleep then."

Roman arched a brow and gave them a crooked smile, confused. "I _live_ here?"

Patton chuckled, "You've got to listen to your parents, Ro. You're going to sleep now."

Roman closed the door and leaned against it, "I just had a cup of coffee."

"Then you're going to your room with us, and you're gonna stay there until you sleep." Patton said with a smile. 

Roman let Logan and Patton drag him to the bedroom and fell face first onto the queen sized bed. They all hung out in there, Patton ignoring Roman's pouts, and passed the time in their own way until the couple heard Roman snoring softly.

"He doesn't look so stressed in his sleep," Patton said softly. If he was honest, Roman looked seventeen again if he relaxed even though he was 27. 

Logan nodded as they left the room, "Technically he is unconscious right now so his tense muscles relax."

Patton quietly closed the door, "He's tearing himself apart."

Logan sighed softly, concern evident in his hazel green eyes. "We're all worried for Virgil, we haven't gotten anything from Deceit in a month at the least."

Patton's eyebrows drew together ad he walked to the kitchen, "What do you think I should cook for Roman?"

Logan glanced at the bedroom door one final time before going to his husband. "Comfort food, I suppose."

Patton smiled, "Brownies?"

"I recommend making something more healthy and nutritious."

"Salmon?" 

Logan nodded, "Do you acquire my assistance?" 

Patton chuckled and shook his head, opening the fridge. "Actually, yes. Could you run to the store and get some groceries? There's, once again, hardly anything in here." 

Logan nodded again, giving Patton a quick kiss before leaving. 

Patton looked into the fridge again, not exactly frowning but he was close. Virgil and Roman could never remember to restock their fridge, Roman could never find the motivation to go out and get more food unless Virgil helped out and Virgil always forgot about it in five minutes. They usually ate with Remy and Emile or Logan and Patton, sometimes they got takeout. 

 

Remy groaned as they woke up, cracking their eyes open before burying their face into Emile's hair. 

Emile chuckled, "Welcome to the real world," he mumbled. 

"But I don't want to come back to the real world!" Remy whined, voice muffled by the hair in their mouth. Remy adjusted their face, eyes shut, so that the hair wouldn't annoy them. 

"You don't want to come back to me?" 

"No, I wanna stay in our little bubble of love," Remy grumbled. 

Emile hummed, smiling into Remy's chest, "Fair."

"Course it's 'fair', I'm always right."

"Not really."

"I'm always right about coffee, that's got to give me a plus." 

Emile sighed contentedly, "Sure. Let's go with that."

Remy huffed and buried their face deeper into Emile's hair, "Your hair's nice."

"Which part?" Emile asked, shifting a bit to be more comfortable.

"The smell, texture, and volume. It's fluffy and soft, like a cloud, and it smells like raspberries."

Emile smirked, "I thought you were 'nose blind'?"

"I'm a selective smeller, shush."

"Do you mean your 'nose is selective about scents'? I thought you were in honour classes in high school?"

Remy cracked open an eye, glaring playfully at the brunet strand. "Don't go all Logan on me." 

Emile laughed, "I'm not going Logan on you, I'm going Picani on you."

"Ugh," Remy groaned, rolling off the couch and dragging a screeching Emile with. "That's worse!" 

Emile playfully scoffed, placing a hand on his chest.

"Now you're going Roman on me! What's next, Patton?" 

"I was going to offer to make coffee but I guess you're fully capable of it," Emile said with a grin. He got up after crawling out from underneath Remy and disappeared into the dining room. 

"How dare!" Remy shouted out, getting to their feet. They paused when their phone binged and Remy checked the message.

_From Fuck Off: I'll be calling you in three hours. Make sure everyone is there._

 

Virgil buried his face further into a pillow when the door opened, not wanting to get up.

"Virgil, you know that won't do anything, dear," Deceit said.

Virgil cringed at the pet name and huffed, lifting his head from the pillow and glaring at Deceit.

"We're having our date today!" Deceit said, crossing the room to Virgil and checking his temperature with a thermometer. He stuck it under Virgil's tongue and waited for it to beep, "Your temperature is going down. It's only at 101 degrees now."

"Great," Virgil muttered. His voice had gotten worse somehow, it's raspy again. 

Deceit smiles, a wild undertone to it, and he lead Virgil to the dining room he'd been in only a few times. He handcuffed Virgil to the chair before saying, "I made oatmeal for you this time, I'm sure you'd be sick of soup and broth by now." 

Virgil looks at the bowl of oatmeal blankly as Deceit places it down, along with a plate of chicken salad. 

"Oh, do I have to spoon feed you?" Deceit asked, smirking and holding up a spoon.

"No," Virgil said, taking the spoon.

Deceit hummed and leaned down so his mouth was level to Virgil's ear, "You better behave today, otherwise a good date will turn into a punishment." 

Virgil tensed and Deceit moved away, sitting in his own seat and eating his salad. Virgil ate his oatmeal hesitantly. 

When they finished, Deceit got up and left for a minute. When he returned, he held a piece of cloth. "This is for you, just to make sure you don't make too much noise while we're outside."

As Deceit got closer, Virgil leaned away. He didn't want to be gagged, it was always his least favourite thing. 

Deceit grabbed Virgil's hair and forced him closer, "Do you want to get hurt?"

Virgil grit his teeth before grudgingly opening his mouth, letting Deceit put the makeshift gag in place. God, he hated it already. 

Deceit released him from the chair but kept the handcuffs on, leading Virgil outside. Virgil tried to remember the twists of hallways and turns of corners.

Virgil squinted at the sunlight, not having seen it in... he doesn't know how long he's been captive. Virgil was glad that he could breath fresh air but he probably won't be out here for long.

The yard was decently sized and when Virgil looked at the building he's been trapped in, he was (sort of) surprised that it was a big house that was very close to being a mansion. His words, "What the fuck" was muffled by the cloth in his mouth. 

"See, this is what happens when you behave and are a good boy. Nobody gets hurt," Deceit said. 

Virgil glanced at Deceit before looking around the yard. He could hear some voices talk, some were in English and others were in a foreign language he didn't know. 

Deceit glanced at his phone, eyebrows raised for a split second before he grabbed Virgil by the arm. Virgil was pretty sure it was going to bruise. 

"It's one in the afternoon, we're going to make a call. I keep my promises, after all," Deceit said as he pushed Virgil into a chair by a window after removing the cloth gag. Virgil watched as Deceit made the call, kicking his leg out gently to see how strong the handcuffs were around his ankle and the chair leg. 

Virgil flinched when Deceit thrust the phone at Virgil, holding it out for him to take. "Don't make them wait, Vee. Don't forget to put it on speakerphone." 

Virgil took the phone, clicking the button that put it on speakerphone, "Hello?" he said softly, trying not to irritate his throat more.

"Virgil! Oh my god!" Patton gasped, "Are you okay?"

Virgil glanced at were Deceit lurked in the shadows of the room, "Yes." 

"Virge?" A calmer voice asked, "Virgil, please tell me this isn't a trick-"

"Hey, Roman. This isn't a trick," Virgil wanted to cry. He was talking to the others, Deceit didn't lie this time. 

"Virge, my love, oh god. Are you okay? Where are you, what's been happening?" 

"I'm fine right now, and I don't knew where I am. I-" Virgil cut himself off when glass shattered from beyond the room's door. 

Deceit's neck snapped towards the noise, scowling. He looked at Virgil, "Move and you're screwed." 

Virgil nodded, eyes slightly wide, and Deceit left the room. 

"Virgil? Virgil, what was that?!" 

"I don't-" Virgil was cut off by voices yelling outside. When he realized they were speaking the foreign language, he cracked open the window (it was unlocked, thank god) and told the others to listen to the voices. 

After a few minutes, Virgil heard footsteps and he quickly closed the window. "I don't know the language, someone figure it out."

Deceit entered the room, holding something, and went back to hiding in the shadows.

"I'm just sick right now, are you guys okay?" Virgil asked. 

"We-"

"Virgil, we're okay," Remy said. "We're looking for you, I swear. We- we're doing whatever we can." 

"I know."

"Well, is there anything you can tell us?" Logan asked. 

Virgil's eyes teared up. He just wants to go home. "I fucking _hate_ it here, we're somewhere foreign, and I-" The words slip out before Virgil has a chance to think about it. He tenses as Deceit stalks over.

Deceit takes his phone back and hisses, "Time's up" before ending the call, ignoring the overlapping voices shouting out. He sits on the table right in front of Virgil. "You know, I haven't done anything terrible and I didn't plan on it but you're just plain out asking for it, I suppose." 

"I-"

"Do you not realize what will happen if you don't shut up right now? They'll get hurt, maybe I'll put them in the oven and slowly burn them and it'll be your fault. And you don't want that, right?" Deceit asked, hand wrapping around Virgil's throat. 

"I asked a _question_ , Virgil." Deceit said lowly, squeezing Virgil's throat and cutting off his oxygen.

"N-no," Virgil choked out. 

Deceit squeezed harder for a second before letting go, "That wasn't too hard, no was it?" 

Virgil didn't say anything.

"I was going to give you a choice about this, but now you don't." Deceit held out a bottle containing alcohol. "This isn't too strong, only 15 percent alcohol, so you're going to drink half of the bottle. I'm going to save the other half, just to be nice."

Virgil didn't reach for the bottle.

Deceit leaned in, an inch away from Virgil's face. "You _are_ going to drink this if you don't want a punishment."

The trapped man still didn't take the alcohol. 

Deceit gazed at Virgil, an eyebrow raised. "Fine," he muttered. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a knife, plunging the weapon into the inside of Virgil's thigh. 

Virgil cried out, gasping and clutching the wound when Deceit yanked out the knife after dragging it down a bit.

"If you don't want to bleed out, you're going to drink this." Deceit held out the bottle again.

Virgil snatched the bottle with a bloody hand, opened it, and took a long sip. He nearly gagged from the after taste. He shouted and jerked when Deceit shoved his fingers into the deep cut. 

"You might want to hurry up," Deceit said with a wild grin. 

Virgil took a shaky breath before continuing to drink the alcohol, finishing half of the bottle and gagging. 

Deceit took the bottle and left the room, returning with a first aid kit. He took out the needle and thread, ripping Virgil's jeans more and started to sew the wound shut. 

Virgil grit his teeth, reminding himself to breathe, and clawed at the arms of the chair. He whimpered when Deceit tugged at the needle harder than needed, finished with sewing the wound, and bandaged it. 

Deceit dragged a limping and stumbling Virgil to the bedroom and forced him back on the bed. 

"We won't be seeing each other for a while. I've got a busy schedule for a week. " Deceit said before locking Virgil into the dark room.

Virgil didn't move much, somewhat thankful that he was extremely lightweight when it came to alcohol since it somewhat dulled the pain from his thigh. He thought about the phone call from earlier, Roman had sounded relieved but it was evident he hand't been taking care of himself lately.

"Goddammit, Roman," he muttered, "take care of yourself." 

 

Roman was going to throw a pillow across the room when Deceit hung up, but instead he asked, "I'm begging that someone here knows that language."

He looked at the group of people, and they all nodded. 

"Virgil's somewhere foreign, that's _great_ ," Remy sighed, "Deceit moved. Of course he wouldn't stay in the same place!" 

Emile rubbed Remy's back, "We can go to the police department and see if they can find an interpreter. We should be glad we were able to hear those voices that quickly." 

Roman ran a hand through his hair, "Let's hurry. This can help _a lot_ , and maybe the police can actually get a move on."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Fighting, implied/referenced starvation, manipulation, guilt, profanity (swearing)

Virgil doesn't exactly know how long he's been trapped in this room but he's only been getting water. He hasn't eaten for a while but he's not getting too many hunger pains now. On the positive(-ish) side, Virgil is pretty sure he's not sick anymore since he's not shivering as if he's freezing while he felt cold and hot at the same time. 

The door opened and Deceit stepped into the room, holding a bowl. Virgil squinted at the light, eyes burning since he's been in the dark for a while. 

"Hey Virgil," Deceit said and set to bowl on the bedside table, turning on a light that Virgil didn't know was in here. Well, the light switch was pretty high on the wall and Virgil was only 5'6. Deceit was probably 6'1. 

"It's been a week, but I've been busy talking to Roman. You probably need food by now, so here, and you don't look as sick as before." Deceit said, checking Virgil's temperature and smirking when the fever was gone. 

He handed the bowl to Virgil and sat on the bed casually, "Roman and I had pleasant talks. Although, you did come up once in a while. Do you want to know what your husband said?"

Virgil ate the broth, looking at Deceit suspiciously.

"Don't give me that look, Virgil."

Virgil stopped glaring at Deceit, looking down immediately. 

"That's better, good boy."

Virgil wanted to throw up at the name every time Deceit said it but he didn't dare do anything. 

"Anyway, Roman said that he was glad you're here." 

Virgil paused before continuing to eat. Roman wouldn't ever say that (right?). 

Deceit hummed, "Yeah, he said that he planned on divorcing you anyway. He doesn't love you anymore, claimed that he only married you out of pity. And because Patton pressured him into your guys' relationship. Actually, I have some things recorded right here!" 

Virgil watched as Deceit pulled out his phone, unlocking it and opening a recording. 

"God, Dee, you have no clue how thankful I am that you've got him now," it was clearly Roman's voice, "I always hated him, y'know? We used to fight all the time but then Patton said that I should give him a chance, and I can't say no to Pat, so I did. Though, everything was fake the whole time. I had to pour my acting skills into that _mess_ , it's a good thing I'm one of the best actors."

Virgil swallowed, holding the spoon loosely in the bowl. That _can't_ be Roman. 

"Every time he had an anxiety attack and I had to help out; it was so pathetic, how he just holds his breath and rocks back and forth." Roman sighed, and Virgil could tell that he was rolling his eyes, "Every single 'I love you' was a lie, and I was getting sick of it. Thank god I could get Remus to get you and take Virgil, it wouldn't have taken long until I went insane."

Virgil stared at the ring finger where his silver ring usually would be. 

"Whatever you're doing to him, he deserves it and I'm so glad you understand. I just- it was stupid of him to believe any one of us actually cares about him. Poor kid thought he was one of us, it's pitiful!" Roman chuckled dryly, "I can't explain how much I hate him but I'm sure you understand and-" 

Virgil bit his tongue and Patton called out for Roman in the phone call. He could taste blood, and he flinched before remembering he wasn't coughing it up this time.

"I've got to go. I'll talk to you again, Dee." And there was a click. 

Deceit pocketed his phone again, hiding his smirk. "See? You should be thankful I have you, he planned on tossing you out into the streets. The others wouldn't have taken you in, would you like to hear?"

Virgil shook his head, holding back tears again. He didn't want to hear the hate in the others' voices; he couldn't stand to hear it in Roman's voice. 

"Ah, alright then." Deceit said, grabbing Virgil's arm where bruises were still healing and jerked him to his feet. 

Virgil didn't struggle as Deceit dragged him through the halls again and he gave up on trying to escape long ago. 

He yelped in surprise when Deceit shoved him forward into the first room he was in and then grab Virgil's hair and yank him back. Virgil was pretty sure his neck cracked, especially when it echoed in his ear. Thankfully, it didn't hurt him any more than a sharp pain for a second. 

"Just remember that you should be thankful I've been kind." Deceit hissed, grabbing Virgil's wrist and twisted his wrist before (literally) kicking him back into the room. 

Virgil whimpered when he landed on his injured wrist and sat up, leaning against a nearby box. He blinked rapidly at the ceiling, Roman's words not leaving him alone. _Everything was fake the whole time... I can't explain how much I hate him._

Virgil hit his head against the box. It must be true. Deceit has evidence and it explained why Roman wasn't exactly... himself sometimes. 

He wipes his tears away. He can't do anything now. 

 

"Remy, you need to schedule therapy," Emily sighed, rubbing his eyes. Right now, Emile was just trying to get Remy to go to therapy. He didn't think it could be _this_ difficult with the other; he thought Roman was the only one who struggled this much since Virgil was _incredibly_ stubborn at times. 

"I have more important things to focus on right now."

"Nothing is more important than yourself, Remy!" 

Remy glanced at Emile before turning back tot he computer. "Right now, my brother is priority. Especially when I can help figure out _where_ he is!"

Emile was going to start crying from frustration, he swears. "Remy, I _swear to god_! You-" Emile sat next to Remy- "are the priority, all the time." 

Remy paused and faced Emile. "Emile, I need to make sure I find my brother. I won't just be sitting around when I _know_ I-"

"You're not going to be able to find him in time if you don't fucking take care of yourself!" Emile snapped. 

Remy looked at Emile calmly. Remy couldn't get too mad at Emile when all he wanted was for Remy to be safe. Remy could see the guilt and desperation in his eyes. So instead of snapping back like Remy usually would, they simply got up and left with the computer. 

Emile buried his face in his hands as the door clicked. He should not have said that. He was worried for Virgil too, he was always close to the anxious man, and he was tempted to cry sometimes too. But, instead of venting to someone (a therapist or friend, for all he cared), he held his feelings in until he exploded. And he exploded at Remy who has been feeling useless because of their PTSD and that they couldn't do much. 

"I'm a mess," Emile sighed. He decided that he'll give Remy space, and then apologise and make it up to the other. 

Emile's phone dinged and he checked his phone, surprised when it was from Roman. Well, the groupchat the whole family had access to but still, it was from Roman.

_From Princey: The police figured out the language. They're in Finland._

 

Remy had been in a nearby library, typing away, when there was a notification from their phone. When they glanced at it, their stomach sunk. 

_From Princey: The police figured out the language. They're in Finland._

As everyone else started spamming the groupchat, Remy packed their shit and flew to the police station. 

"Sir, you can't just-"

"I'm not a sir, first of all. And yes, I can. I've got special access," Remy said, interrupting the receptionist. 

Remy flung Sanders' office door open and stepped in. "Is Virgil seriously in _Finland_?" 

"Well, if we heard those voices and they were pretty clear. They were identified as Finnish by many native speakers here, so, yes. He's in Finland." 

"God, how many places can he live in? First it's Germany, then Spain, and now it's Finland!" Remy paced the room, "And he's been here, too. He's everywhere and- oh god, he can hurt anyone..."

Thomas got up and put a comforting hand on Remy's back (he was short, okay?), "We're going to arrest him. We're getting closer to finding him and Virgil."

"Do you have a clue on where he is, exactly?" 

Thomas shook his head and went back to his desk, "No. We're trying to get more leads though-"

"Your guys' attempts at leads _suck_. It's going to be a year soon, and Virgil could be dead _tomorrow_!" Remy snapped. 

Remy sighed and rubbed their temples, "I'm sorry I snapped. I'm stressed and-" **Remy doesn't know how long they've been captive, but it's been long enough for Remy to begin doubting they were looking for him. It didn't help Deceit kept on trying to convince the other that the others gave up on him ("They abandoned you because you're _worthless_ ) but Remy kept reminding themself that Deceit was lying to them. It was in his name.**

"I know," Thomas assured, "but we _are_ honestly looking for him. I know it's been a long time but we will get Virgil back."

"It took you a year and six months to find me. I'm pretty sure I got my PTSD in ten months, and I got most of my scars in five. We're not being fast enough, Thomas." 

"Virgil didn't sound injured, he said he was sick-"

"He could be lying. Deceit manipulates people, he'll probably convince Virge that it'd be better to deal with the abuse rather than come back." Remy returned to pacing around the small office. "Hell, he nearly convinced _me_ that I wasn't worth bullshit and that it would be better if I gave up and died and I'm pretty tough-"

"We'll get him back, Remy. I promise." Thomas said, determination in his eyes.

Remy paused, "The thing I'm most anxious about is... It's if Virgil is coming back alive or dead."

Remy wouldn't be able to deal with it easily if Virgil died. Just the thought of seeing dark eyes unfocused instead of shining like the galaxy made everyone want to curl up. It didn't help Remy to think about how many scars Virgil will have, and the possible fact that Virgil will hate his body more and have mental breakdowns everyday due to the memories. Or-

"Remy, snap out of it." 

Remy blinked, not noticing that they had began tensing and hyperventilating. "Oh."

"Remy, Virgil will be okay. When-"

"If."

" _When_ ," Thomas repeated, "Virgil comes back, he'll get therapy and be in the hospital."

"He hates therapy. Virge refused to talk to the school counselor when we were younger, no matter what she did." Remy recalled. Oh great, Virgil might not even be able to accept help. He could refuse to talk (or go mute) and he could be hospitalized, especially if he still didn't want to seem like the young person he was. 

"We're doing more research of Finland, talking to the police and seeing if they can find them too."

Remy pursed their lips, "Virgil's only 25 and he's dealing with this shit. He just graduated medical school, and now he might not even be able to do what he loves. Or loved." Remy sighed and sat in a chair. 

Thomas typed something on his computer, "Have you considered going back to therapy?"

Remy groaned and rested their forehead on the cool oak of the desk. "Emile has been trying to get me to go back for a few weeks by now but I've been... busy." 

Thomas arched an eyebrow, "Busy?"

Remy set their chin on the desk, looking up at Thomas. "Shouldn't you be work-"

An officer burst into the room, yelling something about an accident on a freeway and that he needed to assist. They ran out and Thomas jumped to his feet, saying a quick goodbye, and running after the other.

"Speak of the devil," Remy muttered before leaving the department. 

Remy returned home, letting Emile jump up and rush over to them, apologising repeatedly. 

"I shouldn't have snapped, or said that, I'm so sorry! Remy, I-"

Remy hugged Emile, having to lean down about. It amused them each time, "You're not going to have to work too hard to get me forgiveness." 

The unsaid "things are too hard for us to be alone" still rung through the air. 

"Thank god," Emile joked.

"I knew you worshiped me, especially in bed-" Emile's face went red- "but you don't have to call me God." 

Emile playfully pushed Remy away before hugging them again. "You're so complicated at times!" 

Remy smirked, "It's one of my best traits." 

Emile chuckled, "Right."

Remy didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm going to listen to you for once and I'm gonna go back to therapy."\

"Really?"

"Mhm. When Virgil comes back."

Emile sighed, knowing that's the best he could get Remy to do for now. "Okay, dear." 

"Hey, we should invite the others to come over and watch Disney. Roman... isn't exactly the best at taking care of himself."

Emile pulled away, "Yeah, I know. He hasn't been his regular, extra self lately." 

"None of use have really been 'ourselves' lately but yeah, Roman's concerning," Remy said, "Maybe _he_ should go to therapy."

"Rem, most of us need to go to therapy." 

"I suppose." Remy said, leaning against the wall. They squinted against the sunlight, annoyed, before shuffling to the kitchen while saying something about food. 

Emile couldn't really think of food right now, he needed to focus on more positive things. Like how Remy's eyes were just sparkling the most beautiful shade of green, or the way Patton and Logan gave hugs. They way Roman would sing to someone to comfort them helped too, and the way Virgil could calm someone down in seconds. 

He moved to the kitchen and found Remy looking through their cabinets and pull out a box of Mac'n'Cheese. "So, this is what we're going to have for dinner because I can't cook unless there are instructions." 

Emile snickered. 

"It's not my fault," Remy pouted, "You're the one with the magical cooking skills."

"Nah, that's Patton." 

Roman pointed a spatula at their boyfriend, "You make better comfort food, shut up." 

Emile leaned against the counter, "Alright."

"I love you, loser." 

Emile chuckled, hearts in his eyes, "I love you too, string bean." 

Remy scoffed playfully and yelped when their hand touched the burner. That was _on_.

"Oh, that takes _skill_ ," Emile said as he rushed over. 

"Right?" Remy winced as their hand met the cool water from the tap. 

Emile helped make the food with Remy, adding a few things and making sure Remy didn't get burned again. He had a love/hate relationship with Remy's clumsiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update on life: music and typing is saving me as my life slowly gets by. Just gotta say I appreciate all y'all, you're all lovely!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood/gore, knives, manipulation, broken bones, forced underwater/waterboarding(?), murder, profanity (swearing), non-consensual kissing, non-consensual gags/gagging, referenced depression

Deceit did _not_ wake up in a good mood. As soon as he woke up, he immediately felt like beating something up. Or _someone_. He has been going too easy on Virgil for a month or two now. 

He got up from his bed and got his phone. He texted _Annoying Brat_ before getting dressed and pocketing his phone. 

When he entered Virgil's room, he found the captive man curled up and his injured wrist near his chest. 

"Oh, how cute," Deceit hissed softly, crouching in front of him. He grabbed Virgil's injured wrist and twisted it, enjoying the way Virgil yelped and jerked awake. 

Deceit punched Virgil's stomach, still holding onto his wrist, and smirked at his gasps. Deceit stood up and kicked Virgil's ribs repeatedly, then he stomped on his injured wrist. If it wasn't broken before, it sure was now. 

"Ah- stop!!" Virgil shouted, moving away as soon as Deceit stopped kicking him. He struggled when Deceit grabbed his hair and dragged him out the room, down the hall. 

Deceit paused, hummed, and continued walking. "I was going to take you to our usual date room, but I got another idea I think you'll like." 

Virgil didn't resist much, already knowing he didn't have much of a chance, but he was anxious about what was going to happen. When they arrived at a bathroom, Virgil carefully curled into a corner far away from Deceit. Deceit locked the bathroom door and went to the bathtub, turning on icy cold water. 

While Deceit's back was turned, Virgil eyes the bathroom door. The lock was on the door handle and it was a simple lock that you turned. He was tempted to bolt for it, despite having broken ribs and a broken wrist (both were already bruising, and his wrist was starting to swell a bit), but he didn't really have anything to return to. What was it, a family that hated him and then possibly no home? 

No, it was probably better if he stayed here and dealt with this shit. At least he got food, water, and shelter. 

Deceit turned off the faucet and grabbed Virgil by the collar of his tattered shirt. Virgil struggled weakly as Deceit forced him under the water, holding him down by his shoulder. Virgil shallowly gasped for breath every time he surfaced and clawed at Deceit's wrists whenever he went under again. 

After the process was repeated twenty times, Virgil was hauled out of the bathtub and dragged back to his room. Deceit got a chair, rope, and a long strip of cloth after kicking Virgil into the room. 

"This is for your own good, y'know? You didn't behave and this is what happens." Deceit glanced up at Virgil and stood up and when he finished tying the rope. He kissed Virgil, pushing his tongue in and humming, pleased, when Virgil didn't do anything. Deceit pulled away and gagged Virgil.

Deceit opened his mouth, about to speak, when a heavy thud was heard. He whipped his head around, hissing "Don't try anything" to Virgil before slipping out the room, not bothering to lock the door behind him. 

He went to the kitchen, grabbing a freshly sharpened knife, and went to find the intruder. 

It turned out that a police officer broke in, she was looking around with her flashlight and gun pointed. "Why is it so dark in here?" she muttered to herself, squinting at the dark corners until her eyes adjusted. 

Deceit quietly followed her, making sure to not be seen, and watched in amusement as she went through empty rooms. He smirked at her gag when she found the room he usually tortured Virgil in, some blood wasn't cleaned. Speaking of which, he needed to check on Virgil's cuts and make sure they aren't infected again. 

She eventually cracked open Virgil's room door and opened it all the way. She stepped into the room and Deceit slipped into the room and shadows before she closed the door, leaving it open a crack. 

She shined the light into Virgil's face, making him squint and lean back a bit. "Virgil Prince-Kolgrim?" She walked over to him, ignoring Virgil shaking his head, "My name is Valerie. I'm with the police, we've been looking for you since Officer Sanders and your friends called, informing us that you were here. They're so worried and I'm going to get you out-" 

Deceit grabbed Officer Valerie's hair, kicking the gun away (she had set it on the floor) and forcing her to stand right in front of Virgil. He easily held her mostly in place despite her struggling and pulled out the knife. Deceit slit the officer's throat, making sure to hit the arteries and spray Virgil in her blood. 

He smirked at Virgil's muffled scream and kicked Valerie's limp body to the others feet. "That was your fault, Vee. I didn't want to hurt anybody, but you made me. I would have spared her if you didn't let her try to help, you didn't even try to let her know I was right behind her."

Virgil was staring at Valerie, shaking.

"You do know I'm right, Virgil. Say it, don't be evil. Say that she deserved to die because of you." Deceit removed Virgil's gag.

Virgil didn't say anything. 

" _Say it_."

Virgil took a shaky breath, "She- she deserved to- to die."

"Because?"

Tears pooled in Virgil's eyes, "Because of m-me." 

Deceit hummed, "Good boy." He left the room and locked the door. 

Virgil refused to look at Valerie's corpse, his tears spilling. He forced the sobs down, thinking about what she said. 

"They're so worried and I'm going to get you out."

There wasn't a way out of here, and even if he could leave, there's nothing waiting for him. 

A sob escaped his throat. He wishes there was something better for him other than here. He hated it here.

 

Remus glanced out the window before returning to his phone. He was currently the Red Sea for his vacation and was a little annoyed that Deceit had texted him about cyanide. The poison was probably for Virgil, and Remus doesn't know why Deceit didn't order it himself. 

Well, he knew that Deceit was using him for less of a risk of being found but that's fine. More money for Remus. 

_It's gonna cost 2 grand, and it'll arrive in five months_

Remus knew that it wasn't actually going to take five months to get and send to Deceit, but he was giving Virgil a small chance. It's what Roman deserved, especially since Remus left without leaving behind any information. 

Remus knows how much Roman's life has improved with Virgil. Roman suffered from depression and, when they were younger, he had cried himself to sleep every night. He didn't have much motivation to do anything other than things he was passionate about and he even didn't eat because he couldn't bother but Virgil changed all that.

They fought at first but they always made up after Roman cried about how he felt "so bad it's like your heart tearing in two" and repeatedly sang Loathing from Wicked, except he stressed the beginning. 

When they started dating, Roman was able to do more things and he didn't skip out on any meals. His depression wasn't completely gone but Virgil had helped out a lot. Roman improved a lot and his family was glad but they all checked in on him and didn't take "I'm fine" as an answer, especially Remus. 

Their wedding was amazing and it was in October since they both loved Halloween. They didn't know Remus was there since he stayed hidden the whole time because he knew Roman wasn't proud of being his brother, but they were both extremely happy. Remus has pictures; his favourite is of their first dance as a couple, Roman had cried and Virgil teared up both they both were grinning. They didn't stop smiling or holding hands the whole time. 

Remus' phone lit up. _From Two Ds At Once: Fine. The money will be in your account by Saturday._

Remus went to the bathroom, grabbing a spare deodorant and eating it on his way to the living room. He laid on the couch, thinking.

If Virgil improved Roman's life that much, Remus could give him a chance. Maybe he'd drop a hint to Roman. Yeah, he decided that he's going to drop a hint to Roman.

He pulled out his phone, quickly typing: _The city population is 100k+ people_ and clicking send. 

The police would gt the information too and maybe, just maybe, they'd get a move on. They weren't exactly the best but one officer, Thomas Sanders, was incredibly determined when it came to helping people. 

Remus is sure that the "family" is also doing their own mini search, especially Logan and Roman. They didn't like being helpless so it wouldn't be shocking. What _would_ be shocking is if Patton went on a killing spree, bright eyes cold and dead on the inside. Or maybe they'd still be bright with a manic grin. 

And Emile joining Deceit would be shocking, but Remus is sure that would never happen. He was thankful for his interesting imagination sometimes, it always amused him whenever he got bored. And, sometimes, it got him more money than he needed.

He was glad that Deceit didn't look too deeply into things other than his main focus, but it would bite him the ass someday. Speaking of Deceit's ass, it's a pretty good ass. 

Remus shook his head and threw his finished deodorant stick away. Now was not the time to get lost in his thoughts, even if they were some pretty good thoughts. No, now he had to find a tiny bit of cyanide and hope that the amount he sends to Deceit will be so small that the criminal has to order more. 

He was always hopeful but he didn't let them get too high because his hopes were usually crushed to smithereens. 

After finding the cyanide, deciding he'll get it when Deceit pays him, he went to watch _50 First Dates_. It was one of his favourite movies because it was _funny_. 

Remus glanced at his phone one more time before turning it off and plugging it in. He'll check it later since right now,it was time to watch a movie and relax a bit. He's never able to relax for long and it sucked but hey, that's life. 

Life sucked.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Profanity (swearing), minor/major injuries, blood, manipulation, mentions of underage drinking
> 
> There are some OCs in here but they aren't important

Roman immediately started searching the areas in Finland that had 100 thousand people, or 200 thousand, when he got Remus' message and that was three days ago. Right now, Roman was talking to Logan. "Couldn't we try to talk to Finnish people? The police did it!"

Logan glanced up from his book, "They're the police. They can do whatever they want and get answers, we'd have a harder time getting answers." 

"Surely they'd be sympathetic." 

"Some of them couldn't care less."

Roman huffed, crossing his arms. "Then how'd the police get answers out of them?"

"Exactly as I said before: they're the police." 

"Then we can get fake badges and pretend to be police officers."

Logan's eyebrows raised and he nearly dropped his book. "Excuse me?"

"We can be the police," Roman repeated.

"But we're not police officers, Roman."

"You're a detective, you can say you're on the case. Technically, you are..." Roman trailed off at the end. 

Logan shook his head, "Even if we were to do that, how would you fit in?"

"It's obvious," Roman said, "I'd be your partner. I could be a beginner or something." 

"Roman, no."

"Please?" 

Roman repeated the plea many times until Logan sighed and gave in. 

"Fine. But we are _not_ going to be stupid about it." 

"Oh, you cursed." Roman said. 

"I... I didn't?"

"You said 'stupid'."

"That- that's not profanity." 

"Yes it is!" 

"Roman, we are not in kindergarten." 

"You still swore," Roman said. He got up and sat next to Logan. "So, how am I going to get an ID or whatever?"

Logan opened his book again, "You get the fun job of figuring that out." 

Roman huffed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, I'll just go to Dave." 

"Who's Dave?"

"This one kid I've known since high school who makes fake IDs. That's how I was able to get alcohol when I was... I think I was sixteen." 

Logan glanced at him again before focusing on his book. "Alright then." 

"You're not going to lecture me about underage drinking?"

"No," Logan said, "because that would be hypocritical." 

Roman's eyes widened for a second, "What-"

"Hush, let me read." 

Roman smirked before getting up and grabbing his things. He left, checking his notification on his phone. There was nothing. 

He was worried and somewhat relieved because he hasn't gotten anything from Deceit lately. It either meant nothing terrible was happening to Virgil or he was going through extreme abuse or torture and someone was going to get something sometime soon. Roman shivered and winced at the thought of seeing Virgil beaten again. He nearly gagged at the thought of seeing Virgil tortured again. 

Roman took a deep breath, a memory of Virgil popping up. It was of when Virgil caught him in a panic attack and he refused to leave Roman alone until he was truly okay. He ended up staying in Roman's room for the night, letting the man cling to him and sleep. Roman was so embarrassed the next day but Virgil told him it was fine, filled with sass and sincerity. God, Virgil was the most sassy yet one of the kindest people Roman knew. 

He drew his attention back to his phone, unlocking it and calling Dave. 

"Hello?"

Roman smiled for a second, "Hey there, dude."

"Roman!" Dave exclaimed, "My god, it's been forever since we talked but I'm assuming you aren't just calling for a chat?"

"You know me well, Dave." 

Dave chuckled, "Yeah, I guess. But there's also news about your husband, he's gone missing." 

Roman sighed, "Mhm. Yeah, Virge."

"I'm super sorry about him, especially since it was... wasn't the name Deceit?" Dave asked. Roman mumbled a confirmation. "I only know of one person who survived him, Virgil's sibling, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hm," Dave hummed, "Maybe it's a family trait. Y'know, being able to escape the clutches of evil. I wouldn't be surprised, Virgil used to get away with fights all the time in high school." 

"It was either luck or Remy." 

"Ramey?" 

"No," Roman chuckled, " _Remy_. There's a difference." 

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, usually people pronounce Ramey and Remy, not the other way around." Roman shrugged. 

"Ha, I guess. Well, was there anything you needed? Or were you actually calling for a chat?"

"Well, I did enjoy our chat but I need something from you. I need an ID as a detective." 

Dave paused, "Oh? That's interesting... I can do it, it'll take me a week or three to get it to you."

"That's..." Roman paused, frowning, "a bit long."

"I know but it'll be a week if things go good."

Roman ran a hand through his hair, "That's still a good while, Dave."

"I _know_ , Roman. I can't help it if you want it to be realistic." 

"Alright, fine. I'll stop fighting with you for now." 

"Good, 'cause you'd lose pretty quick if you tried," Dave said, "Do you need anything else? I can fly over and be your personal therapist." Dave chuckled. 

"No thanks, that's all I need for now. We really should hang out sometime, though." Roman added. 

"Dude, I'm halfway across the world. That'd be a bit difficult."

"I'm sure you get plenty of money."

"You do too, I assume. Are you not getting payed for being in plays and musicals anymore?" 

"Oh, I am," Roman said. He apologised when someone bumped into him. "I'm working at a preschool right now, and doing theatre on the side until I get into something major. After I get Virgil back, of course." 

"Alright. Are you not working right now?" Dave asked.

"I'm working three times a week. My boss is pretty understanding, he saw the news about Virgil." 

"Thank god. If he was being homophobe, I'd come over and kick his ass." 

"Protective much?" Roman asked playfully. 

"I'd do it for Virgil, in his honour." 

Roman raised an eyebrow, "You hardly talked to him."

"He ordered a fake ID once, said it was for driving Remy's car and to pet some dogs somewhere." Dave laughed. 

"Really? How old was Virge?"

"Fifteen. He was so small back then!"

"He's still small." Roman frowned, gritting his teeth when the pictures of Virgil beaten up flashed in his head. 

"Really? I would've thought he had a growth spurt by now 'cause Remy's a fucking tree." 

"I thought so too but nope, he's forever going to be a flower."

Dave huffed, "Why compare him to a flower?"

"He's cute but he's a prick." At least, he _was_. Roman has no clue if Virgil's still fighting. He's praying that he is. 

"Yeah, that sums him up." A voice called out Dave's name, "Oop, looks like I've got to go."

"'Oop'?"

"Mhm-" the voice called out again- "I seriously have to go. My girlfriend's getting upset."

"Alright, have fun," Roman said and hung up. 

So, he has at least a week before he can play Detective with Logan. That's not cheering him up in any way. 

Roman sighed for the millionth time that day (he sighed a lot nowadays) before turning right. He was going to visit the bakery Patton worked at part-time and hopefully catch him on his break. 

When Roman opened the doors to the bakery, holding it open for a man with three girls, he was somewhat comforted by the cinnamon smell that Patton could make in a kitchen when he was baking. He stood behind the man with the three girls, watching the kids jump around or cling to their dad. 

It was heartwarming and Roman loved it. He and Virgil had talked about adoption before, and they both agreed that they would get some older kids. The older kids hardly ever got adopted and they deserved a home as much as the younger ones did. 

The man ordered everything for the kids and took the food, going to a booth by a window. 

Roman stepped up, smiling when he saw it was Patton at the counter. 

"Hello- Roman!" Patton grinned, "I didn't know you were going to stop by!"

"Surprise," Roman chuckled, "but yeah, I came by to see if we could hang out during your break."

Patton looked at a clock that was hanging nearby. "Hm, my break's in thirty minutes, Ro." 

"That's cool, I'll wait here. Could I get a coffee, though?"

"Of course. Your usual?" Patton asked. He quickly got the coffee for Roman when he nodded. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks, padre." Roman said, taking his coffee. He went to a small table for two and scrolled through his phone. He plugged in his earbuds that were in his jacket pocket and listened to music while scrolling through Pinterest while he waited for the half hour to pass. 

He glanced up when someone gently tapped his shoulder. He removed one of his earbuds and turned down his music. "Hey, can I help you?" He asked the teenage girl. 

"Yeah, um, could I borrow your phone real quick? My phone died and I need to call my grandma." She shifted her feet, fiddling with the sleeves of her shirt. 

Roman paused his music and handed his phone to the girl, nodding.

"Thanks," she said before dialing a number. She only shuffled a bit away, still pretty close to Roman. "Hey, grandma? It's Beth, I was just calling to let you know I'm going to be late home tonight. Mhm, Alexander is going to give me a ride home. I'm at- uh, it's called Chandler's Bakery. Yes, I'll make sure to come home safe. Alright, I love you too. Bye."

The girl, Beth, handed Roman's phone back to him, thanking him and going to a separate table. He saw Patton walking over to him and waved.

"So," Patton said as he sat across from Roman, "what brought you here, Princey?" 

"Well, I'm not going to be able to do too much for a week or so, so I thought 'why not visit Pat?' So here I am." Roman said, waving his hands at himself. 

Patton smiled, "Well, thanks for visiting! I didn't think you or Lo would visit." 

"No problem. So, how long is your break?"

"Only thirty minutes." 

"Well, we're gonna make the best of it!"

Patton and Roman chatted for a while, mostly about animals or shows on Netflix ("Hopper _did not_ die!"), and Patton said that he had to go back to work. Roman nodded, saying a goodbye, before leaving. 

 

Remy would deny it, but Emile knew that the other was on edge from not getting anything from Deceit. Remy was worried that Virgil was dead, and was only slightly eased whenever Emile tried comforting them. 

Emile eventually convinced Remy to take a shower ("I love you, and hygiene is something I love just as equally." "Rude!") and was jumped when a bing sounded from their phone. He frowned, checking the notification and muttering, "Oh, shit" when it was from Deceit. Another bing, another message. _He looks gorgeous, doesn't he? I forgot to mention th-_ and the message was cut off. 

He frowned, glancing at the black screen of the television, before slowly logging into Remy's phone. He clicked on the most recent notification and gasped when he saw the picture of Virgil, wincing. 

Virgil had clearly been beaten up recently, sporting a black eye, multiple cuts, and blood was on his face. There were bruises shaped like fingers around his throat and bit marks where the tattered shirt didn't cover. His nose was bleeding and there was some blood dripping down his chin from his mouth. Virgil was tense and leaning away a bit as if he was trying to move away but not move much at the same time. His eyes were focused on the floor. 

"Emile, what're you doing on my phone?" 

Emile jumped and turned to face Remy. He didn't hear the shower stop or hear Remy change into pants and a crop top. "Uh. Well, see, your phone binged and... Deceit messaged you."

Remy took their phone back and looked at the open picture. Their eyes widened, "What the hell!" Remy backed out of the picture and read the next text quickly. "'He looks gorgeous, doesn't he? I forgot to mention that he picked a few fights these past few days.'" Remy cringed, "That _bastard_!" 

Emile didn't say anything. Simply watching as Remy placed their phone down and curse at Deceit. 

"And he just has the fucking audacity to say that it's _Virgil's_ fault!" Remy snarled, "Virgil didn't do anything, goddammit, he's just my baby brother and he didn't do shit! The worst he did was get a fake ID and now he's dealing with _this_ -" Remy waved their arms in the air- "at 25 because a fucking criminal wants to get his so-called 'revenge'!" 

Emile let Remy rant, glancing at the floor whenever Remy growled about how Virgil's going to be traumatized because some psychopath decided it'd be fun. "Rem, maybe we should focus on something else?"

"We've _been_ focusing on something else and it's getting us nowhere closer to Virgil!" 

"I know but we can't do much."

Remy sighed, running their hands over their face. "That only makes me feel worse. We just got a picture of Virgil and he's beaten up, and I'm pretty sure that face means that he's giving in." 

"He's strong-"

"Deceit is incredibly manipulative, and he knows your weak points just to get to you," Remy muttered, "He used my phobias against me and he was somehow able to convince me that you guys were trapped there too. He was able to make photos of you all, beaten and bloody along with scars or severe wounds that were infected or pouring blood... " Remy trailed off. 

"We're going to get Virgil back and he'll be able to move on with help and support, just like you did." 

"It took me two years to stop waking up screaming, Em." 

"You were still able to move on." 

Remy's shoulders sank. They muttered a "yeah" before shuffling to their room. Remy let Emile follow, eventually they ended up cuddling and watching funny movies. 

Remy couldn't stop thinking about Virgil's safety but they were able to convince Emile that they weren't focused on that for now. 

 

Roman's stomach sank as soon as a Skype call came in. He usually wouldn't pick up but he did, and his gut was right. It was from Deceit and the camera was currently on Virgil who was tied to a chair, bleeding and covered in bruised. 

"I'm on the phone with Roman right now, Virge. I'd let you listen to him, but I don't think you should." Deceit said, only receiving a glance from Virgil.

"Deceit, stop whatever you are doing and let me talk to Virgil!" Roman growled. 

"No, I don't think so. See, it's Virgil's fault as usual." 

"What are you talking about?" 

Deceit smirked at Roman, enjoying the frustrated confusion. "The body of course." 

Roman froze and he saw Virgil tense at the sentence. "What body?"

"I had to do it, you do know that. Virgil wasn't even trying to protect her, didn't bother saving a life."

Virgil's chapped lips pursed, glaring at Deceit through his bangs before looking away again. 

"I knew you'd agree with me, Ro."

"Do _not_ call me that!" Roman scowled at the criminal. 

"Virge, he knows what you did. If you didn't think he hated you before, he sure does now."

"I do _not_ hate Virgil, I hate you _so damn much_!" Roman snapped. 

"Oops, Virge you weren't supposed to hear that... I guess I can't blame it if these earbuds are terrible but I suppose that it just supports what I say more." Deceit's smirk grew. "He just said it, 'I hate you so damn much!'"

Roman froze, his jaw dropping. Oh god, Virgil heard that last part. He needs to be more careful of what he says. He nearly started crying when Virgil slumped into the chair as much as he could, only doing that when he thought something was true. 

"Oh, it seems that's all the time we have!" Deceit said, the camera slipping a bit. There was a body, right at Virgil's feet, and it was obviously female. 

Didn't an officer go missing somewhere in Finland? Valerie was her name. 

Roman's eyes widened. That corpse was Valerie. 

Deceit hissed a goodbye before ending the call and Roman sprinted to the police department straight away. 

"Valerie's dead!" He shouted as he barged into Thomas' office for the tenth time. 

"Valerie?"

"The- the police officer that went missing in Finland! Didn't they say she never responded to the radio calls or whatever and they don't know where she went?" 

"Yes," Thomas said. 

"I just had a Skype call with Deceit-"

"I know, it recorded on my computer."

"So you saw the body? And heard Deceit?" Thomas nodded. "Great, so you know it's Valerie!" 

Thomas glanced at his computer. It seemed to do that often. "We don't know if it's Valerie but we can try to confirm with Finland. I was about to go talk to the Chief about it."

"Oh," Roman slumped. Virgil was injured right now, and he was giving in to the manipulation Deceit probably hissed every day. "I- I'll leave you to it."

Thomas nodded, saying, "Don't worry, we'll figure this out," before leaving the room. 

Roman stood alone for a second before leaving the department, walking home. 

Roman was going to reassure Virgil that he loved him and he was going to show him that every single day of their lives together. That is _if_ Virgil can come back.

He had a feeling someone wasn't going to make it back home.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood/gore, knives, fake ID/faking being a detective or on a case, corpse(s), manipulation, being forced to work with a criminal, forced eye-contact, a small non-consensual kiss
> 
> There is a minor OC in this

It's been fourteen days since Roman ordered his fake detective ID and it finally showed up in his mail. He showed it to Logan, asking how realistic it was. 

"It it very realistic, just don't show it to my boss or someone in charge. They'll be able to tell it's fake since you won't be in files." 

Roman grinned, excited to start interrogating people. "Great, let's start now!"

"Roman, we don't have a list of people to talk to." 

"You mean you didn't get the list from the police in the ten days we didn't use?" 

Logan raised an eyebrow, "I have been doing it myself. I didn't think you'd be able to obtain a realistic ID." 

Roman scoffed, a hand coming up to his chest. "How dare!" 

"Easily."

Roman narrowed his eyes at Logan for a moment. "Okay, so you _have_ talked to people and stuff?"

"Yes."

"Why did you not just say that?"

"You asked if I had a list, I do not. I knew which people to go to," Logan said. He was typing on his computer again. 

Roman ran a hand through his hair, "Alright. So, did I get this for nothing?"

"No," Logan said, "we're going to visit one person and see how they respond."

"I thought we were going to talk to witnesses or something?"

"Or something would be finding the basic area of where Virgil is captive. Lately, I have been getting the answer of Lahti. I have done some research on it and it has around 100 thousand people. A lot of the Finnish people have also said that it was likely they were in Lahti."

"Why would they be in Lahti?" Roman asked.

"I don't know, but that's the general answer." Logan closed his computer, "When would you like to talk to the last person?"

"Now."

"Alright. Let me send a text to Patton before we go, he'll be coming home from work while we're out." Logan said, typing a message on his phone and sending it to Patton. "Okay, we can leave."

"Great," Roman said and pulled on his jacket. "So, who is this mystery person?" 

Logan put his shoes on, "His name is Finley Anson. He has met Deceit-"

"Really?" Roman gasped. 

"Finley wasn't a victim, he simply ran into him before getting knocked out. It was a few months ago and Finley was in Lahti and was moving over here to support his elderly mother. She's currently in a nursing home here." 

"Ah," Roman said. He was hoping Finley had more of an experience but he was glad Deceit didn't do anything too bad to him. He waited for Logan to get his ID, making sure his own was in his pocket, before leaving with the other.

Logan and Roman walked, it wasn't too far but Roman complained. 

"Calm down, you're fine." Logan said, knocking on the door. "Get your ID ready, we're going to need to show it to Finley." 

The door opened after a moment and a short, young adult looked up at them. "Oh, hello!" 

"Are you Finley Anson?" 

"Mhm. Who are you guys?" He asked. 

"We're with the police force," Logan said, showing his badge. Roman showed his too. 

Finley examined them, "Alrighty, come on in!" 

They stepped into the small house and Finley led them to the living room. 

"So, what do you need to ask?"

Logan sat next to Roman, giving him a look that says 'let me do the talking'. Was Roman going to listen? Probably not.

"We are on Virgil Prince-Kolgrim's case," Logan said. 

Finley's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Damn, I thought the police wasn't doing anything, especially since it's been... what, about ten months by now? Nearly a year." 

"They are, just incredibly slowly," Roman said. He didn't scowl, so A+ to him and his acting skills. 

Finley hummed and nodded. "Alright, what do you want to know? I don't really have much to say, I've never met... Virgil?"

"Yes, his name is Virgil, and we don't need too much from you today. We are informed that you were in Finland a few months ago and ran into a man. Do you still remember what he looked like?" 

"Yeah," Finley said, "the left side of his face was scarred, and he had a creepy eye colour. Kind of like your friend's there, the golden colour, I think." Finley nodded at Roman, "Though your partner's eyes are a warmer gold."

Logan pulled out his phone, "This is a picture of Deceit, the criminal that's been on many cases, including this one. Is this the man?"

Finley took Logan's phone and examined the picture. "Yeah, but it looks a bit old. Deceit, right?" He handed back the phone, "He has a new scar now, curving down his cheek, but that looks like him. It's got the outfit and everything." 

"I see. Can you tell us where you were in Lahti at the time when you ran into him?" Logan asked. 

"I was by the bay. I don't know where _he_ was going, but I was going home to pack a few more things."

Roman nodded, "Was he carrying anything?"

"No, he just grabbed my head and hit it against something nearby to knock me out. He was gone when I woke up." 

Logan nodded, writing down something on a notepad he apparently brought with, along with a pen. 

"Are you aware of what cases Deceit has been on?" Roman asked.

"Yeah," Finley huffed, "some really fucked up ones. Murder, rape, and torture. Honestly, I'd be surprised if anyone survived that dude." 

"Not many have gotten away," Logan said, "I apologise, you didn't have to answer that." 

"It's fine. I don't get triggered or something like that from it." 

Logan nodded, "So, he is in Lahti?"

"When I saw him, definitely. I'd check by the bay first, and you might wanna get there soon." 

Roman's eyes narrowed slightly, "What do you mean by we 'might wanna get there soon'?"

Finley leaned back into his chair. "Well, assuming Virgil's still alive, he won't be for long. Isn't your goal to get him before he dies?" 

"Yes. Thanks for the advice, though we already knew that," Roman said. 

"Are you sure?" Finley asked. 

"Finley," Logan said, "is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Finley thought about it. "Well, have you tried finding out if Deceit has people here, working for him?" 

Roman swore he saw an amused glint in Finley's blue eyes. 

"We have been working on that, too. That is all we need for now. Thank you, Finley." Logan said, standing up and holding his hand out. 

Finley stood up and shook Logan's hand. "No problem, Detective Thindrel. And to you too, Detective Princeton." 

Roman shook Finley's hand, not showing that he was unsettled by the glint that's been in Finley's eyes for a while, and smiled. "Thank you."

Finley smiled back, hands retreating back to the hoodie pockets. "Bye, I'll see you later, I suppose."

The two men left and returned to their house. 

Finley's smile dropped. He got his phone from underneath the coffee table and stopped recording. He glanced at the closed front door before sending the video to a private number with a _they're catching onto you_. 

He knows the private number belongs to the criminal and he could be arrested for being an accomplice to the crime but he didn't want his mother to die. 

Finley jumped when there was a knock on the door and he went to open it. "Oh, Beth!"

Beth smiled at Finley, "Hey. Uh, grandma got mad when I got to her place late so can I stay here? I don't want her to yell at me again but if you don't want me to stay-"

"No, no. It's fine, Beth." Finley stepped aside to let his half-sister in. "Why'd grandma get so upset?"

"Because I was with Alex." 

Finley mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes, and closed the door. His phone buzzed and he checked it.

_I know. It's going to be drawn out for longer, of course. But if you ever give them information again, I don't think your little "Bumble Bee" would have fun_

Finley sent an okay before turning off his phone.

 

"I don't like him," Roman said as he shook off his jacket. 

"You don't like many people," Logan pointed out.

"Yeah, but didn't you see that _look_ in his eyes? It was like he's dropping hints the whole time."

"If you want to, you can report him as a suspect for participating in the crime." Logan took off his shoes, "The problem is that you have no evidence of anything other than a gut feeling."

"But you said so yourself, we all have instincts and they're usually right." 

"Well, the law isn't going to believe your instincts unless you've got evidence." 

Roman huffed, "The law sucks."

"You are talking to a detective right now, Ro." Patton called from the kitchen. 

Roman made a weird noise in the back of his throat in shock. He'd deny it later. "Oh. Hey, Pat!"

"Hi!" 

Roman chuckled and Logan gave a small smile in the direction of Patton's voice. 

"Okay, I give up trying to get Finley properly interrogated. For now," Roman said. 

"He did give us useful information, Roman," Logan said as he opened his computer again, his little notepad next to his computer. 

"Yeah, he did." 

 

Deceit opened the room's door, wearing a pair of spare yellow gloves. When he walked in, Virgil glanced at him before looking back at the wall. Virgil refused to look at Valerie's rotting body, and he hated the smell. 

Deceit didn't say anything, grabbing the body and dragging it out of the room. He disposed of it and went back to Virgil. 

He stood behind Virgil, leaning against the chair Virgil was bound too again. Deceit hardly ever let him out of the room. "So, Vee, have you finally got it thorugh your head how Roman truly feels about you?" A nod. "You're not going to try to deny the truth?" A shake of Virgil's head. 

"Good," Deceit moved to stand in front of Virgil, "tell me." 

"He hates me," Virgil mumbled. He grit his teeth when Deceit pressed a hand to a fresh cut on his arm.

"That's right. It's because you're helpless and useless. You can't do anything, and he despises you for it. So does the rest of your 'family'. Would you like me to play the recording?"

Virgil shook his head. He didn't resist as Deceit forced him to look at him. 

"I'm different, you know that."

Virgil was sure they have different definitions for "different".

"But I still care, and you already know why. It's because I'm not a monster, I only do what I have to do. Roman and the others would rather die than see you again because they're inhumane. I'm the only person who can care about you, understand?"

Virgil nodded his head. He wanted to say no but that would be a mistake. 

"You haven't said much lately," Deceit hummed. His eyes lit up dangerously, "I'll be back."

True to his words, Deceit left and then came back with scissors. He watched as Virgil grit his teeth when the blades dug into his skin, blood dripping out. 

Deceit hummed, moving behind the bound man, and pulled down Virgil's shirt enough to reach his shoulder blade where _ANXIETY_ was barely scarred over. He dug in the blade as far as he could, listening to Virgil shout, and carved into the skin again, exactly as before. He pulled the scissors' blade out of Virgil's back and watched as blood poured out of the wound again. Virgil flinched and breathed out heavily when Deceit traced the word with his finger, pressing too hard. 

"Well, I'll leave you be for another while. I have errands to run," Deceit said. He pecked Virgil's lips, licking them before leaving the room, leaving Virgil in the dark again.

Virgil blinked, trying to ignore the pain all over his body and attempted to look around in the dark. He whimpered whenever the deep cuts on his back brushed against the back of the chair. 

Deceit had been talking about a "fun date that will last a good while" that was going to happen soon. He said in two weeks, it would start. Virgil had come up with all sorts of possibilities and he didn't like any of them. He wasn't excited about it, as anxious as usual, but he's hoping it won't be as bad as past "dates."

Remy, when they could talk about what happened somewhat more easily, said that the worst things happened in the first five months. Virgil had no clue how long it's been other than more than three months. Remy also said that Deceit planned a terrible thing as a last "date" and had heard him talk about it when they were able to sneak out of their room. 

Remy said that Deceit was going to lock them in a windowless room, all white, as it slowly filled with water. Deceit planned on drowning them. So, before that could be happen, Remy escaped despite the pain and thoughts of dying would be better than going home to find the family dead or about to die. They checked all the rooms they could but then Deceit found their room empty and started to hunt them down. 

Virgil cracked his neck and fingers, wincing. Whatever Deceit planned, it wouldn't be fun, but Virgil wasn't going to try escaping. He'd be lucky if he even worked up the courage to fight back again, but it probably wouldn't happen. 

Well, physically fighting back wasn't going to happen. Virgil was mentally clinging onto hope that, since he didn't hear what Roman completely said during that one call, the family didn't hate him as much as Deceit said. He hadn't heard anything from the others, only Roman, but Virgil kept reminding himself that the criminal's name was literally "Deceit." 

There wasn't much hope, but Virgil was going to keep it as long as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're crawling to the end of the story, guys! It's gotta be sooner or later but knowing me, it's probably going to be later than I originally planned. Lots of last minute ideas pop into my head but I don't write all of them down :))


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Profanity (swearing), referenced/implied torture, sensory deprivation, (minor) manipulation

"Okay," Remy said, "so you're saying that they're in _Lahti_?"

"Yes," Logan said. Roman and Patton nodded. 

"And you waited _two months_ to tell me and Emile so the police could have their way and confirm it's where Officer Valerie went?" Remy asked slowly. 

Roman glanced at Logan, not saying anything. When Remy started talking slowly, as if the others were children, it usually meant that a lecture was coming up. Honestly, he's surprised that Logan's dubbed as the Mom Friend instead of Remy as the Second Parent. Maybe he could convince the group that they're the Third Parent Friend.

"The police specifically said 'do not make any irrational actions' so yes, we waited for two months-"

"And three weeks!"

"- to tell you," Logan finished. 

Roman gave the three men, who were mostly older, a tight smile, their eyes widening enough to give a creepy effect. "You're telling me that I've had to wait for over a _year_ to figure out where my brother is because the police didn't want any 'irrational actions'?"

"Yes."

"Roman, you knew about this, right?" Remy asked, eyes piercing into Roman's even with the new sunglasses. 

"Uh," Roman leaned back a bit, "yeah?"

Remy rubbed their eyes from under the sunglasses. "And you didn't bother doing anything?"

"We were getting a specific area while we waited for the police to give the okay!" Roman defended, "It turns out they're in the most isolated area."

Remy stared at Roman as if he couldn't understand what two plus two equals. "It's a fucking _criminal that is torturing Virgil_! Of course they're going to try to be in the most isolated space!" 

"Okay, damn!" Roman said defensively. 

"Kiddos, let's just try to take a breath," Patton said. Remy pursed their lips before sighing and Roman tried to relax his tense muscles. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Remy asked. They took Logan's computer, ignoring his protests. "We're getting tickets, I don't care if we're broke or are risking our jobs." 

Emile pointed out the tickets they needed and Remy bought them, using their own account to buy six tickets. 

"Y'all better be grateful, I'm buying the last tickets with the last of my money. Waiting on people isn't the best job, maybe I should work at a club or something," Remy added.

Emile made a sour face, "I love you but please don't." 

Remy didn't say anything other than announcing that they'll be able to leave in two days. "Two days too long." 

"We're going to get him soon, Rem," Patton said. 

"We better, or else I'm going to rip that snake with my bare hands," Remy growled. 

To say Roman was a little concerned by that statement was putting it gently. He plans on killing Deceit too, or at least make sure he's put on death row, but he'd be classier. Maybe run him over or strangle him. 

"We're going to make sure no one dies unless they're on death row," Patton said. He hadn't been as smiley and bright as usual for the past few months, anxiety chasing him in every action he did. 

"Fine," Remy huffed. They shoved Logan's computer into his hands and stomped off.

"I'll go with Remy," Emile excused himself. He got up and left, and the others could hear Remy snap and apologise before Emile closed the door. 

"Was it a mistake not telling them earlier?" Patton asked, staring down at his tea.

"No. Remy would have stormed off to Finland and get hurt, it's better safe than sorry." Logan said. 

Roman wrapped his arms around Patton, giving Logan a sympathetic look over his shoulder. "Yeah, no one's going to die because we did what was right." 

Roman was trying to convince himself more than the others but he was able to make it sound reassuring for them, grateful for his acting skills. He hadn't been able to shake off the grim feeling from all those months and he kept on having nightmares of them all brutally murdered. Usually it was Deceit but a few accidents (getting hit by a car, etc) would pop up. The most gruesome thing that happened to himself was getting impaled with a flying metal pole. He watched everyone else die before blacking out and jolting awake. 

 

Deceit opened the room, shivering at the cold before dragging Virgil out of the room. He shut the door and dragged a shivering Virgil to his room. He watched Virgil stumble over his feet, the fact that he's blindfolded and his wrists were bound didn't help. Deceit hasn't let the cold get to Virgil too far, he pulled him out of the room before he could start developing hypothermia and let him warm up a bit before kicking him back into the room as cold as a freezer. 

"You don't know this but your group is coming after you," Deceit said, "I don't want them to hurt you, Vee, so I have to handle this the darker way." He ran his fingers through Virgil's hair, grinning when he leaned into it. Virgil was probably close to being severely touch starved. 

"I-"

"Ah!" Deceit put a finger to Virgil's lips, "You know what happens when you talk without permission." 

Virgil's eyebrows drew together and Deceit could tell he wished he could glare. He's been getting more rebellious again. 

"I really don't want to hurt them but you are, once again, the cause. I think you deserve another deprivation for that," Deceit muttered. He pulled out noise-cancelling headphones and forced them onto Virgil. He also tied Virgil's hands to his chest so he couldn't attempt to remove anything again, but Deceit was sure that his fingers were too sensitive to do much. Especially when Deceit forced Virgil to hold a red-hot iron rod. 

The cyanide should be here by the end of the week, Remus had informed him that it would arrive sooner than expected. Deceit knew that it shouldn't even take more than two months but he decided to play along. 

Deceit never planned on keeping Virgil long, only a year at the least and then poison him to death, but he would have kept the torture up for five years total if he didn't want to kill the other. He knew that Virgil's death would break Remy, and Patton would go spiraling down with Roman. He doesn't know how Logan would react but it wouldn't be anything positive. 

He took a picture of Virgil, sending it to the family, and then shoved Virgil back into the room. 

The police were most likely going to be here in a week, so Deceit decided that Virgil would slowly get hypothermia and then be poisoned to death. The police would arrive and find Virgil's corpse, and that Deceit already fled the scene before he could be arrested. He would be going to Italy next but no one needed to know that. 

There wasn't a high chance of being arrested but Deceit still had to be on guard. He knows there a pictures of him (he'd probably have to change another few things again) and Remy would most likely be sneaking in to get Virgil. 

He was expecting the family to come get Virgil so he's been getting his guns and ammo. Anyone with a good idea of him knows what's going to happen. 

Deceit turned up the air conditioning that was blasting on Virgil, making it colder. He'd always pull Virgil out for an hour or two so he wouldn't immediately get hypothermia and die. 

This was going to be fun, even if Deceit got arrested. He's had twenty victims, excluding Virgil, by now. He's sure he's going to continue collecting victims. 

Deceit moved to his bedroom that was bare once again. The only thing remaining was a pile of photographs on the bedside table. It was of all his victims, including Patton, Remy, and Virgil. 

Patton was sobbing in the photo, his eyes filled with terror. He was trying to get away but he failed. 

Remy was staring blankly at the camera. The photo was taken at a side view and it was able to catch some bruises and scratches on their neck. It was when Remy was about to give up, but then they went back to fighting Deceit.

And the most recent one was of Virgil, of course. It was of Virgil glaring into the camera, eyes darker than usual, and he was obviously beaten up recently. It was one of his favourites. 

"Virge, you're one of my favourites. It's such a shame that I've got to rid of you, especially since it's Remy and Patton's fault." Deceit muttered to himself.

If Patton and Remy hand't left him, Virgil would be fine. Yes, Remy and/or Patton wouldn't be there but he wouldn't be dying at the age of 25. Or was it 26 now? Deceit wasn't sure, but he'd had Virgil for a year now and almost a month. 

He thought about all of their dates, smirking at a few where Virgil screamed especially loud. One was more recent, and it was when Deceit deeply cut Virgil multiple times and held him down in salt water. He poured lemon juice on the most severe wounds after, grinning in joy as Virgil thrashed and screamed. 

Virgil was a tough one, it's been said multiple times before, even if he's in a terrible mindset for now. Honestly, Deceit was surprised that Virgil isn't staring blankly with all light in his eyes gone. He's sure that the few stars in Virgil's eyes are going to burn out very soon. 

Deceit went on his phone, scrolling through his pictures and recordings. He doubted he was going to need more recordings to break Virgil but he was going to hold onto them anyway. He could look back through these and enjoy the memories or maybe he'll use them against the family again. 

He enjoyed making the recordings, mixing the audio from recent calls and things from Remy's capture, but it was a simple thing he learned years ago. How the police hasn't found him in all 23 years of crimes, he doesn't know, but he wasn't going to break the record any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this at 1:30 am and I actually haven't been sleeping well so here's a sleep-deprived chapter :)) Also, I'm apologising again if it's too short for you guys but there's at least two more chapters coming. The end is soon!
> 
> Also, the method of torture Deceit is using now is called "Cold Cell Torture"


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Implied/referenced poisoning, profanity (swearing), shooting guns

Roman groaned as someone whacked him with a pillow. Repeatedly. 

"What?" He whined. 

"You-" another whack- "need to get up, Ro." 

Roman huffed, burying his face further into his pillows. He looked up when Remy whacked him again. 

"Up. We're making coffee and out flight leaves at six."

"What time's it?" 

Remy squinted at their phone, "Four. In the morning."

"So then I can sleep in," Roman said, covering his head with the blanket. 

"Fine, but don't blame me when you're dead on your feet at the airport." Remy tossed the pillow onto Roman and left the room, leaving the door open. 

"I can sleep on the plane," Roman muttered before falling asleep again. He screeched when someone started jumping on the bed, making him fly off the bed and onto the floor. 

Remy leaned over Roman, grinning, "Pops said to get up." 

Roman grumbled and pulled on a tank top, going to the couch and falling onto it face first. 

"Hey, kiddo," Patton said, "want some coffee?"

Roman sat up, giving Patton a grateful smile, before sipping the coffee. He's sure that if continued drinking coffee, he was going to get sick of it really soon. 

"Don't we need to pack stuff?" Emile asked. 

"No, we won't be there long," Remy said.

"Um, the hospital stay?" 

"Then we can go shopping, we've all got _some_ money." 

Emile hummed and went back to drinking his tea. The three were currently in the family room as Patton and Logan stayed in the kitchen. If Roman glanced in there, he could see Patton sit on the counter and Logan leaning against it next to him. 

Roman set his mug on a coaster (he didn't want a two hour long lecture from Logan again), and went to unplug his phone in his room. It's 4:20. He was going to sleep on the plane for sure, despite the coffee. It's an eleven hour flight and coffee only lasted six-ish hours, he'd hopefully pass out. He didn't mention he hated flying. 

He went back to the family room, draping himself on the couch again. 

 

Deceit sighed, holding Valerie's gun. It's a Glock 22, and Deceit wanted to do something. His mood soured a bit when he received eighty milligrams of cyanide. It wasn't a lethal dose, it would only make Virgil sick, but he'd make it work. Deceit had to do something extra, so he decided to shoot Virgil. Not where it would kill him, of course.

He went to Virgil's current room with the gun and poison, ignoring the extreme cold, and closed the door again. He sat down in front of Virgil, glancing between him and the gun. 

Virgil couldn't see or hear, he could only feel due to the sensory deprivations. He'd been fun to play with, but he'd need to be gone by Friday. That was in two days. 

Deceit knows that the family was coming over here, along with police officers, and they'd make a plan tomorrow after settling into a hotel. Then they'd be in action on Friday. 

He glanced at Virgil's bruised leg, smirking and aiming the gun at it. He ripped off the noise-cancelling headphones and shot Virgil's leg. 

Virgil cried out, flinching and gasping. 

Deceit set down the gun, making sure it wouldn't shoot again, and held the cyanide to Virgil's lips. "Drink this." 

Virgil hesitantly drank it. 

Deceit's smirk grew, saying, "Good boy" before he put the noise-cancelling headphones on Virgil again. He left the room with the gun and now-empty bottle. He checked the temperature, turning it down, and went back to his room.

His room was bare now, everything he needed now in Italy through Finley. Once he was in Italy, he'd let Finley and Beth go. He didn't need them for anything else, so they'd be useless soon. 

He set down the gun and bottle, knowing that the poison would be taking minor effects in Virgil soon. Virgil wouldn't die from poisoning, much to Deceit's distaste, but he would be in pain and confusion while he froze. Deceit will let Virgil get hypothermia on Friday, curious to see if they'd find him in time. 

Deceit looked at his three other guns, excited to use them soon. 

 

Roman was right, he _did_ fall asleep on the plane, leaning against Logan. 

When they landed, he was awaken by Logan. Logan apparently thought that smacking his face with a piece of paper was appropriate. 

"What the f-"

"Language!" Patton said, nodding at a little girl who was passing by. 

"Fudge?!" 

"Great save," Logan said monotonously. 

"Shush, you can't do better." 

"I would have said it in Spanish." 

Roman narrowed his eyes at the other, rolling them before getting up and leaving the plane. The other two followed quickly, meeting up with the rest of the group.

"Hi, Thomas!" Patton called, waving his hand in the air and practically jumping. 

"Hey!" Thomas waved back. 

Patton grinned, giving him and the others a hug before asking, "So what are we going to do first? Are we going to the police department first or to a hotel?"

"We agreed to get a hotel room first and the go to the police department," Emile said. 

"Okay!" 

They all went to a hotel somewhat close to the department and got a room. They all decided to check the room out before leaving for the department. 

"It's not that bad," Roman said, a little surprised. 

The room had two large beds, each had a bedside table with a lamp, and there was a window that let sunlight in. 

"Is no one else hungry?" Remy asked suddenly, a few minutes after they all decided who'd be in which bed.

"Actually," Logan said, "I was just about to announce that we haven't eaten so far. We should go get food." 

Everyone agreed and they left the hotel, making sure they had their key. After eating at some place, the went to the police department. 

"Hi, I'm Officer Thomas Sanders from America working on the Prince-Kolgrim case. Logan here is a detective on the case." Thomas waved a hand at Logan.

"Salutations," Logan said. 

The officer they were currently talking to raised an eyebrow, "And the others?" 

"They're family members." 

"I see," the officer said, "Is there anything you need?" 

"Yes, we need to know what you plan on doing for Virgil." 

"We're going to be holding a meeting tomorrow," the officer said, "You and Detective Logan are welcome. I'm afraid the rest of you are not."

"Alright," Thomas said. "What time is the meeting?"

"It's at seven in the morning."

Thomas nodded, said a thank you, and led the others back to the hotel. He collapsed on a bed, "I'm going to be even _more_ sleep deprived..."

Patton yawned. "I'm sorry, kiddo. We should all probably sleep though, the jet lag's going to catch up sooner or later."

They all crawled into their beds and fell asleep fairly quickly. Emile ended up on top of Remy and Logan curled into Patton's side. 

Roman took pictures before letting himself sleep. The problem was that the morbid feeling wouldn't go away and he had a nightmare about someone dying but he couldn't see who died. 

He didn't like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that Chapter Twenty will be the final chapter but if there's too much going on in the end, I'll split it into another chapter or two :) Are you ready?
> 
> (If it seems rushed at the end, you have my sincerest apologies)


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Shooting guns, minor/major injuries, murder, referenced/implied death, profanity (swearing)

Everyone woke up at _three-fucking-am_ but it's fine because it'll be worth it when they get Virgil back. Even if Roman knew something was going to happen and Remy knew that it was a high possibility that Virgil won't make it. Or didn't make it. No one was going to think about that.

"Okay," Thomas murmured, "the plan is that we go in, be aware of your surroundings, and find Virgil. We get out of there as quick as possible, the police is going to be searching for Deceit if he hasn't fled yet." 

"It's confirmed Virgil's in there?" Patton asked, staring at the large house with uncertainty. 

"Yes. We have pictures of the inside and compared it to the background of photos, and that one Skype call." 

Roman ran a hand through his hair, "I don't see any ambulances. I know the police cars are hidden but..."

"The ambulance is going to park behind there-" Thomas pointed at a building that looked like a warehouse- "in ten minutes. They'll be ready for Virgil and for anyone who gets hurt." 

Emile's eyes widened, "Wait, so we're going to get hurt? What if we _die_?" 

"The ambulance is going to be here soon, Em," Remy reassured, "and if anyone gets hurt, there's going to be help." They glanced at Thomas, as if saying my family better not get hurt again. We're trusting you.

Thomas nodded, and made sure that he has his gun. "Okay, before we go in there, we need to make sure everyone has something to defend themselves with. There's stuff with the other officers, if need be."

Remy pulled out their pocket knife and Logan informed them that he has his gun. Roman and Emile somehow got knives, and Patton said he knows how to fight properly.

"That might not do anything, what if he has a gun?" Logan frowned. 

"If he has a gun then I can slip away or tackle him, I'll be fine." 

"Patton, you would use those as a last resort." 

"I'll be fine," Patton repeated. 

Thomas hesitantly nodded, "Alright, let's move in." 

 

Deceit glanced out his window, watching as the police and the other few quickly and quietly moved closer, grinning. He went to lock Virgil's door with a more complicated lock, turning up the air to the coldest setting, before slipping into the shadows. 

 

The police officers, including Thomas, went in first. They had tried to talk the family out of coming with earlier but they failed. 

The whole group split, only Logan and Patton sticking together, and they searched for Virgil. Shots rang through the air almost immediately. 

Roman glanced towards the noise, wincing at the shots and shouts, before continuing to move forward. He didn't have a clue on where his husband could be (he didn't notice he fiddled with his ring for a moment) but he cautiously opened a door. 

He peeked into the room, finding it empty, and closed the door again. The hallways were like a maze, and some of the doors he opened led to a brick wall. 

Roman frowned, opening another door and immediately grimacing at the smell from inside. He slipped inside, holding his shirt over his mouth and nose, and shut the door before turning on his flashlight. He nearly screamed. 

In the corner of the room, there was a decaying corpse on its side. He shined the light on their face, nearly gagging when it was Officer Valerie. He quickly looked around the room and slipped out when he saw nothing but a knife covered in blood. It was probably the knife used to slit her throat. 

He continued down the hall, wanting to find Virgil soon. He shivered at the cold of the house.

 

Patton frowned as he continued pushing and pulling on a door, it refusing to open. He flinched at every other gunshot. 

Logan put a hand on Patton's and tried opening the door. He pushed it before turning the handle further and leaning against the door, putting his weight on it. 

"It's not opening?" Patton whispered as quiet as possible. 

Logan shook his head, glancing around before muttering, "Find a hiding spot for me real quick. I'll have to kick the door open." 

Patton nodded, going and hiding behind a piece of furniture that had a blanket covering it. Luckily, if he needed to, he could hide behind it. 

Logan glanced around again before stepping back and kicked the door near its handle. Patton curled into himself further at every kick. It could draw attention and-

"Patton, I got it." 

He looked around before quietly going to Logan. They both stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. 

The room was mostly bare, only a bed and bedside table with a drawer in the room. Logan looked through the drawer as Patton looked under the bed. 

Logan pulled out a small stack of papers, going through them, frowning. 

Patton squinted at something in the shadows, getting up and asking for the flashlight. He shone the light under the bed, freezing when he saw it. He screamed and scuttled away from the bed, scaring Logan and making him drop the papers. Patton squealed as the spider crawled out from under the bed, jumping over it and leaping onto Logan's back, tearing up. 

"Kill it!" Patton hissed, squeezing Logan harder as the spider made its way to the two. He whimpered as Logan walked over to it and stepped on it. Patton started crying from terror as a million smaller spiders crawled out from under Logan's foot. He scooted up Logan's back, squealing. 

Logan left the room, getting the flashlight and turning it off, and closed the door. Logan hushed Patton gently and he went down the hall silently, still carrying him. 

Patton got off Logan at the third door they opened. They looked in the room, finding nothing interesting and they left. 

A gunshot echoed through the halls, then more shots and shouts were heard again. Patton and Logan saw a staircase. 

"Should we go up another level?" Patton asked. 

Logan nodded, grabbing Patton's hand, and they went up the stairs. 

 

Right now, Remy was incredibly anxious and was tempted to break down crying. They kept on finding blood and hearing gunshots. Remy doesn't know where the rest of the group is, including Emile, but they kept moving. 

It was eerily similar to the time Remy escaped, not wanting to slowly drown and die. It was similar twisting hallways with tricks, and the same goal: get to Virgil. Do it for Virgil. Remy had a few extra goals too, especially since they weren't as... let's go with 'fresh from torture.'

A scream echoed from downstairs (Remy was halfway though the second floor and there were _four_ ) and it sounded like Patton. He could have been shot or stabbed, or maybe Deceit got him and-

Remy gasped and nearly fell on their ass when they tripped over their foot. They stumbled, grabbing onto a table and catching their balance again. Remy had talent, okay? They could be in a movie or something. 

Emile always said that Remy was too sassy for their own good at times. Remy always says that it's how they make light of a situation, like how Patton refused to be upset in front of them. Patton had been genuinely shocked when they all (mostly Emile and Logan) told him that he shouldn't repress his emotions because it wasn't healthy. 

Remy patted the table in thanks and hooked their sunglasses on their shirt. Why Remy didn't do it earlier, no one has a clue. 

They sighed, looking down the hall before they kept on moving. Remy wasn't leaving without Virgil; it's either they leave together or it's the last thing Remy does. 

Remy wished they told Emile and the others "I love you" before walking in. The gunshots were going to haunt them. 

 

Thomas ducked into another room as footsteps echoed in the now-empty halls. They all just finished shooting at each other, and most of the officers got shot somewhere. One unfortunate officer got shot in the heart but no one could tell by who. Maybe it was an accident from another officer who was filled with regret or it could be Deceit from the shadows with a grin. 

He glanced around the room, the footsteps getting louder as they got closer, and Thomas only saw a bed. It was the same bed Virgil's sexual harassment was recorded and Thomas dove under it, covering his gun with his body after making sure it was on safety. 

It was wonderful timing because the door opened and light poured into the room. Thomas covered his mouth with his hand, trying not to breathe too heavily as shoes covered in blood came into view. His heartbeat raced, he was sure he was sweating, and moved back a bit from the shoes, making sure he still wasn't visible from above. 

"Thomas?" Deceit asked, closing the door and walking around the room. "I know you're in here. Come out." 

_Shit_. Thomas tried to slow his breathing, gritting his teeth when light shone on the bed. 

"Don't you want to find Virgil?" Deceit asked. Thomas could see Deceit crouch next to the bed, light shining. 

Thomas thought of all the curse words he knew, slowly moving away from Deceit. 

Deceit lifted the blankets, shining the light on Thomas, making him freeze, and looked at him. His eyes were creepy, the light made it look like they were glowing in the dark, and the smirk was unsettling. "There you are." 

Deceit reached out for Thomas, grabbing his arm, and said officer panicked. Thomas flung his gun away from both of them, making Deceit chuckle. 

"That wasn't the wisest move-" 

Next think Thomas knew, he had dislocated Deceit's shoulder. While Deceit froze in shock, Thomas slid out from under the bed and grabbed his gun, running out of the room. 

Only when he checked twelve more rooms, he realized that he should have locked the criminal in the room, or arrest him. He has handcuffs. 

"Goddammit!" Thomas hissed. He examined the room closest to him, finding nothing, and buried his face in his hands. He took his radio and murmured, "I need everyone's updates." 

The responses were mostly good, the family said they weren't injured but some officers had to leave the scene. They were getting backup soon. 

No one had found Virgil in this mansion-like house but with backup, more people could cover more ground. 

Thomas kept looking over the first floor, some other officers that didn't need medical attention helping cover the floor. 

When he passed the window, he could see some ambulances leave, presumably with the officers that were shot. He hoped no one else would die or get wounded badly. 

He started moving quicker when he could hear Deceit calling out names. 

Deceit wasn't going to just hunt down one person, he was going to take anyone he could get. Thomas knew that, with Deceit sometimes talking, he would give away his position. Officers would probably go after him while the others moved farther away. Or panicked so badly that they make too much noise and give away _their_ position.

Thomas stopped in the middle of a hallway. Deceit was armed with a gun, and he knew that the cloak can hide other weapons on his person. 

Should Thomas look for Virgil, getting him to safety quicker, or should he attempt to arrest Deceit so that they can move more freely? 

Either way, he needed to decide soon. 

The pros of looking for Virgil: he could narrowly avoid death and the most important people to the victim can be saved. It could make arresting Deceit easier since they won't feel as if they're on a timer and most of them can be happy or feel accomplished. The cons are that Deceit can flee sooner and more people will be hurt. Virgil and others can die soon, and they could find a better solution after everything's done. 

Decide, decide. Thomas looked both ways down the hall. 

Family or people? 

Thomas sighed. He's wasting time. 

Five people are currently looking for Virgil and over twelve are trying to arrest Deceit. More officers are coming, some can look for Virgil while others help arrest Deceit. 

Who's more of a threat? Virgil's death or Deceit's freedom? 

A scream rang through the house and yelling followed. Thomas ran to the source.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Shooting guns, minor/major injuries, murder, referenced/implied death, profanity (swearing), blood/gore

It's been quiet for a while now and it was making Roman incredibly anxious and thankful. He was anxious because he didn't know what was happening but he was thankful because it was quiet enough for him to hear footsteps again. 

He could hear footsteps on the floor below him, multiple actually, and he was on the third door. Strangely, it kept getting colder the higher he got. Maybe it's because it is a tall house but still. 

Roman opened the door, glaring when he was met with a closet. There were a lot of trick rooms in this house and it was getting on his nerves. All he wanted was to go home with Virgil, is that too much? 

He moved on, eventually finding the stairs leading to the last story. Roman stood there, contemplating if he should skip over the rest of the floor to move up. He decided to go up, knowing that the other will go through all of the rooms. 

Roman saw a clock, reading it and yawning when it informed him it was five in the morning. Gunshots and screams have been going on and off for two hours. 

He shivered when he reached the top floor, finding it less complicated than the other three. This floor was much more bare, and there weren't as many doors. 

Roman walked around, opening all the doors he passed. Eventually, he was met with a door that had two locks on it, one complicated and the other more basic. When he touched the door handle, he hissed and pulled his hand away. 

It was so cold that it burned. 

Roman looked around for a key or something but instead he saw a small device on the wall opposite of the locked door. He went to it, finding it at an extremely cold temperature. Roman turned it up to a comfortable room temperature, figuring it was the air conditioning for the house. 

"I thought that cold-blooded creatures for heat whenever they could?" Roman asked quietly. He went back to looking for a key, finding one but it didn't fit either lock. 

Roman threw the key behind him, cringing at the noise it made when it fell on the ground. That wasn't the wisest decision. 

He went back to the locks, glancing at a table. Roman looked through its drawers, finding a stack of bobby pins. 

"I can use this," he whispered, smiling, and went back to the locks. He glanced away when there was another scream, more yelling, one gunshot, and clearly someone was getting injured nearby but that only made Roman work quicker. 

Roman was too focused on picking the locks to hear the footsteps getting close or see a person sink into the shadows. 

 

Patton and Logan moved onto the third floor, skipping some of the doors that were cracked open. Roman had said that he'd leave doors cracked open an inch if he already checked them. 

Patton opened a door and looked into the room, face scrunching when he saw the room where Virgil was tortured. He closed the door, unsettled at the fact that some blood hadn't been cleaned up. 

Logan was walking out a room, shaking his head when Patton gave him a curious look.

"Are we going to find Virgil?" Patton asked quietly.

"Ye-" Logan cut himself off and covered Patton's mouth. He turned off their flashlight and moved back.

Deceit was standing nearby, standing still and obviously waiting for someone to make a noise. 

Patton's eyes widened and he held onto Logan's wrist. Logan squeezed his shoulder and slipped away. Patton nearly whined, but he crouched down instead to try to make himself smaller. He kept an eye on Logan. 

Logan met Patton's eyes before he pulled out his gun. He was about to shoot but Deceit had cracked his neck, smirking, and ran out of sight. 

"Lo-" 

Logan was tackled by Deceit, his gun knocked out of his hands. Patton screamed, freezing for a second as Logan and Deceit wrestled. 

Logan punched and kicked at Deceit, also shoving at him as he tried to overpower the other. Deceit grabbed Logan and pulled him, forcing the detective onto the floor. He pulled out a knife and raised it, putting more of his weight down on Logan as he held Deceit's wrist, trying to get the knife away. 

Patton watched them wrestle for a second before scooting towards Logan's gun. He grabbed the gun, aiming it at Deceit, and pulled the trigger. 

Deceit hissed, glaring up at Patton before he grabbed Logan's hair and bashed his head against the floor. While Logan's grip loosened, he stabbed him int the side. 

"STOP!" Patton yelled, still holding the gun. 

Logan shoved Deceit off and pinned him down. "Patton, get another officer!" 

"But-"

"Patton!" Logan snapped. 

Patton scrambled up, saying "I love you!" before flying down the staircases. He took the gun with him. 

 

Remy almost decked Patton. It wasn't on purpose, but Patton was running down the stairs and he had a gun. Remy thought it was Deceit, and they were ready to fight.

"Remy!" Patton gasped. He grabbed Remy's wrist and continued running, dragging Remy with him. "We need officers! Logan and Deceit are fighting, and Logan was stabbed and-"

"Why the hell can't I go help?!" Remy asked. They ran with Patton, the both of them nearly tripping down the stairs and breaking their necks. 

"Officers! That's why!" Patton took a sharp turn. 

Remy spotted Emile and shouted, "Emile! Third floor, emergency!" 

Emile nodded and sprinted up the staircases. 

Patton ran down the last flight of stairs and tripped, forcing Remy to go forward too. Patton hit the wall with his face and Remy braced themself with their hands. 

"Are you okay, Patton?" Remy asked. 

Patton took off his now-shattered glasses. "I'm fine I- oh, officer!" Patton screeched. 

An officer ran over to them and sprinted up the stair cases when the two explained what was going on. The officer called for the others to go too over the radio. 

 

Roman grinned, making an accomplished noise as the locks unlocked. He stood up, wincing at how his legs ached from being crouched for so long, and pushed the door. It didn't budge. 

"Are you _fucking serious_?" Roman growled. He blinked when he saw a smaller lock on the door handle, the ones you twist. He twisted it and opened the door. 

Cold air that could have been from Antarctica blew over him, making him shiver harshly. He stepped into the room, rubbing his arms, and looked around. It was hard to see but there was a figure sitting in a corner. 

"Virge?" Roman asked. He moved over, crouching in front of Virgil.

Virgil was a mess, his hair was longer and his clothes were tattered. He wasn't shivering and his breathing was slow and shallow, he was blindfolded and had headphones on. 

Roman removed the headphones first, then the blindfold. "Virgil?" 

Virgil wasn't moving and his eyes were shut. 

Roman gently placed his hand on Virgil's shoulder, wanting to cry out of joy when his eyes fluttered open. 

"Hey," Roman said gently, "are you okay?" 

That was a dumb question. It's been over a year. 

Virgil blinked up at him. He glanced around, "Roman?"

"Y-yeah, Virge. It's me," Roman said. 

Virgil squinted at him, "You hate me?" 

Roman wanted to cry for a different reason again. Virgil said that with the saddest tone Roman's ever heard. "No, no, I don't hate you."

"B-but Deceit-" Virgil yawned, "I'm tired." 

"Deceit lied to you, Starlight," Roman said. He was wondering how the hell Virgil could be tempted to sleep when it hit him. Virgil was getting hypothermia. 

"I missed you," Virgil slurred, eyes drifting closed. 

Roman's hands moved to Virgil's cheeks, "I missed you too, Virge. God, I missed you, and I need you to stay awake for me, okay?" 

Virgil looked at Roman blankly before turning away and retched. 

Roman moved Virgil gently and rubbed his back, noting that he wasn't throwing anything up. Virgil looked malnourished, too. He probably hasn't eaten properly for a while.

When Virgil stopped retching (nothing came up), Roman picked him up. "Stay awake, okay?" 

Virgil looked confused for a second before lazily nodding. "Y'know, even if you hate me-"

"I don't. I love you so damn much."

Virgil hummed, "Love you," he slurred. 

Roman carried Virgil out of the freezing room, giving him his jacket, and was about to go down the hall when a gunshot echoed in his ears. He knew he was falling, and Virgil gave a hoarse scream, but then he couldn't see or feel anything else. 

 

Remy's run turned into a sprint when there was a gunshot and hoarse scream. Most of the group arrived at the fourth floor, finding Virgil cradling Roman's head and Deceit pointing his gun at Virgil. Some officers were taking Logan to an ambulance since his side was pouring blood.

"A step closer and I'm going to shoot him." 

Remy froze, along with the rest of the group except Emile. Emile had disappeared somewhere. 

Virgil was blinking sluggishly and occasionally looking at Deceit. He didn't acknowledge the others. 

"Here's what's going to happen," Deceit said, "I'm going to flee and you're not going to follow me. And you're not going to try any tricks because if you do, Virgil's blood is going to join Roman's."

Patton bit his lip, noticing the way Virgil swayed, as if he was about to pass out. He probably was, his eyes were glazed over and his eyes kept closing for longer than a second. 

Roman's eyes were dead, the back of his head pouring blood and it was collecting into a puddle below him and Virgil. Remy doesn't think they can get Roman back. 

Deceit kept talking, backing towards the window while his gun was aimed at Virgil. Which was useless by now, Virgil passed out and it didn't look like he was breathing. 

Emile popped up from around the corner with a baseball bat. He lifted it, aimed, and swung it at Deceit's head right as he took a step back. 

 

Remy was clinging to Virgil's hand, watching the heart monitor beep steadily. It's been two weeks since they got Virgil back and he hasn't completely woken up. He's woken up a few times, half conscious. 

Virgil had cyanide poisoning and second stage hypothermia, as well as malnourished. As soon as he completely woke up, he was going to get a therapist. He had many physical scars and a lot of mental scars.

"Hey, Rem," Emile said and sat next to them. "You should get some food."

"I always do."

Emile ran a hand through Remy's hair. "What are you thinking about now?" 

"The first thing that's popping up in my head," Remy said, "is how I'm going to tell Virge that his husband is dead." 

Emile looked at Virgil. He's been doing better but there was still a lot of progress that needed to be made. " _All_ of us are going to tell him. You're not going to be alone." 

"He's going to be heartbroken." 

"He has us." 

Remy smiled at Emile. Their sunglasses were currently hanging off their shirt. "And that's great! It is, but... They both told me about what they planned to do together. Y'know, adopt some kids after Virge got a steady job and Roman had planned on doing something super special for Virgil after this." 

Remy took a shaky breath, "And now they can't. Because one of them died." 

Emile hugged Remy, resting his chin on their shoulder. "He still has a family, Rem. We're going to take care of him and help him move on." 

"Yeah, we are. Can we change subjects?"

"Mhm." 

"How's Logan? I heard that it was a pretty bad stab wound." Remy asked.

"Well, the doctors said that he can move around if he's careful. They want to check up on it for a bit longer but Pat's signing the papers to get him home." Emile said, "Logan's gonna change and then they're coming in here."

Remy nodded. So Logan's okay, Virgil's _going to be_ okay (he better or else Remy's going to haunt him) and _everyone_ was okay. Remy slouched a bit at the thought of Roman, but then they thought that he's going to be okay in the land of the dead. Remy heard it's a great place for people like Roman. 

"Hey, Em?"

Emile hummed, eyes closed. He was tired. 

"Wanna do something sometime in the next two years?"

"What's it?"

Remy grinned, "Wanna get married?" 

Emile smiled, "Yeah." 

 

Patton and Logan found the two asleep on each other a few hours later. 

"They're so cute!" Patton said softly with a grin. 

"Of course they are," Logan said. 

The couple sat down on the other side of Virgil. 

"He _is_ going to be okay, right?" Patton asked, fingers lightly tracing swirls on Virgil's pale arms.

"Yes, he is," Logan said. He kissed Patton's cheek, "We'll all be okay." 

The two watched a movie with shared earbuds on Patton's phone and waited for the other three to wake up.

Everyone's going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end! That was a wild ride but I had so much fun, dears. 
> 
> I will not be writing a sequel to this, but I have written an alternate ending! :)


End file.
